Wanted Urgently: More Bush Fire Fighters

[CyberCitizen]

Wanted Urgently: More Bush Fire Fighters
By LAURA ANDERSON - 03 Jan 06

THE Country Fire Service is facing a shortage of volunteers, just as the state moves into what firefighters fear could be a horror bushfire season.

As firefighting helicopters worth $3.5 million came into operation and Premier Mike Rann announced that $2 million was being spent on new protective gear yesterday, CFS chief officer Euan Ferguson said firefighter numbers were worryingly low as about 200 fires were reported in the past 10 days, the busiest firefighting period in a decade.

"We are very concerned that we are seeing a slow decline in volunteer numbers," he said.

"The last 10 days, we have seen a lot of our volunteers work really long hours. They have done a terrific job but . . . we do need more volunteers in the daytime."

Mr Rann yesterday announced that all volunteers would be issued with the latest personal equipment after a CFS audit estimated 1500 volunteers were using outdated clothing.

The new uniforms have higher collars, longer arm and leg lengths and are made of a protective material.

Mr Rann said that while firefighters prepared to battle fires, the community carried the responsibility for fire prevention.

"We cannot afford to be complacent," he said. "There is an absolute responsibility on home owners in high-risk areas to make sure that they are bushfire prepared," he said.

Mr Ferguson stressed South Australia had been "pretty lucky" so far to avoid a major bushfire.

He warned that the state could soon face a bushfire similar to this week's blazes in NSW and Victoria if home owners did not take precautions.

"These are not hollow warnings," he said. "It happened on the West Coast last year.

"The reality is one day it will happen. There has been a lot of fuel. We have been pretty lucky this fire season.

"We need to note well the disasters which are occurring in the eastern states."

Home owners in fire-risk areas have been urged to clean their gutters, clear their yards of debris and prepare a bushfire plan.

Source: The Advertiser - Wanted Urgently: More Bush Fire Fighters

[mengcfs]

And this today.................

CFS chief despairs over the attitude of young
By CRAIG BILDSTIEN
04jan06
THE attitude of young people was partly to blame for the CFS losing members and not being able to sign volunteers, Country Fire Services chief Euan Ferguson said.

Mr Ferguson said yesterday the CFS had lost 1000 volunteers over the past three years. "I am not having a go at them . . . but they do have different attitudes and values to the baby boomers," he said.

"The younger generation has got this 'what's in it for me' type attitude. They will only volunteer if they can see that they're going to get some direct benefit."

Mr Ferguson said the CFS had struggled to muster volunteers for fires over the past fortnight.

Mr Ferguson said that like other volunteer organisations, the CFS had been forced to take notice of what young people were saying in order to entice them to join.

"We've actually listened, and that's one of the reasons our training courses are now nationally accredited," he said.

"A lot of our younger people are quite comfortable with more and more training and being assessed for it. Many have not been brought up on the farm by dad and taught how to burn off, and so they do need basic skills training.

"But it's a double-edged sword . . . many of our older volunteers are farmers with practical skills, and don't have the time for three days' training, and this is something we are grappling with at the moment."

Meanwhile, Adelaide Hills Council staff yesterday visited 33 properties previously issued with notices to clear fire hazards and found that 11 owners had not complied.

Each owner will be fined $160 and they will receive clean-up bills from the council.

And in Victoria, firefighters have threatened to walk off the job during busy summer months and the Commonwealth Games in a dispute over safety.

United Firefighters Union state secretary Peter Marshall said the current uniform used in fighting structural fires failed to meet national and international standards.

The state's workplace safety authority, WorkSafe Victoria, had found the uniform did not meet Australian standards and directed it be used during training exercises only if extra supervision, safety precautions and lower fuel loads were used, Mr Marshall said.

He said the Victorian Government had known about the problem for at least four years.

"Our patience is worn out. Fix the uniform or otherwise . . . we'll be saying to the Government: 'You wear our uniform and do the fire and see how you like it'."

The uniform is used by metropolitan firefighters and Country Fire Authority workers who are called to fight house fires, including buildings set ablaze by bushfires such as the one that destroyed seven homes near Stawell at the weekend.

Acting Premier John Thwaites said the uniform dispute had arisen during the course of enterprise bargaining negotiations.

"There are often a lot of claims made . . .," he said. "I am confident that firefighters in this state are very safe."

Opposition emergency services spokesman Kim Wells accused the Government of dragging its feet.

Adam.

[medevac]

hmm now lets see the two main reason i can see for young people not wanting to vollunteer are firstly; that they dont give a crap... which is fine (dont give a crap or dont think its your thing then dont join)

and secondly, they are interested and do start going to trainings.. but they leave because they are young they get shafted/treated like crap and ignored by the older members they should be looking to for support.

meanwhile.... did anyone read the bit about the 17y.o. leutenient from kimba??? whats with that, i know for a fact that i wouldnt follow him, and thats not just becasue he's younger than me... i know its a differant cfs over there than it is here in my area...  but how can you possibly be old enough/suited to be a leutenient when your not old enough to get your truck liscence and not old enough to do BA training... which in a BA brigade (which kimba is) surely it would be in your SFECs to have BA in order to be an officer....

hes not old enough to posess his full car liscence, not old enough to drink or smoke, not even old enough to vote... but hes old enough to put peoples life in risk with his own decisions....?

dont take this the wrong way, im not personally attackign the guy, just thinking out loud what a load of c**p it is... im sure he must be doign something right for the brigade to vote him in, but it just seems so wrong...

so... who here would honestly follow a 17y.o. leutenient???

[Mike]

I can see where your comming from Medevac..... But Im going to decline to answer.

I cant make that decision based on everyone elses opinion.
I know when I was a cadet I made sure I could do what everyone else was, and know everything I could about it. Regardless of being trained in it or not, so it doesnt mean they wouldnt know what they were doing!

Would want to meet them first.

[medevac]

just ranting...

[oz fire]

In relation to young people not giving a crap, I think that may only apply to some areas.

Looking broadly at the urban interface (and greater Adelaide area - Hills etc) the issue seams to be retention - young people join, get trained and put in allot of service for a few years then reality hits - they can't afford to live in the area where there parents live or they have to move on to follow work, now that they have completed studies or got a qualification.

Todays reality is that our population is more transient, follows work, money and pleasure and at the end of the day as volunteers their needs to live take a higher priority than those of volunteersing - sad fact but basic needs as identified by Maslow in his hierarchy of needs - self preservation first, then enjoyment and then the other functions that make up people - i.e. volunteering.

Maybe as a service we need to look at how we can maximise the input (and outputs) of the younger people while we have them in our brigade - if they enjoy it while they are young, there is a chance when their circumstances change that they may be back in a CFS area and again join to serve their community.

[strikeathird]

I think the "Attitude" article from the Chief is a little disapointing...Way to make those younger members that actually do give a toss feel like cr@p.

[CyberCitizen]

I Actually Agree With Him, Not I'm Not That Old, However I Think Todays Youth, Are To Wrapped Up In Other Things To Even Think About Vol To The CFS. My Parents (Not Members) Pushed Me Towards It, And I Am Glad They Did, I Love It, However Had Never Given It A Thought Prior To That.

[MATTE]

Take it from me, younger people dont want to be labeled volunteers. its not appealing. When the term is Firefighter its more appealing. i personally hate being labelled a volunteer,it makes me feel second best. and if people take the attitude that it is volunteering they dont feel compelled to do the job in a professional manner. which brings up a whole new issue the proffesional look of the service. in dingo woop woop who cares but in the urban fringes when we are always being compared to samfs you need to do ur best to look the part and act it, responding to the call(the way the driver drives, arms not hanging out windows etc.) at the call (everyone looks the same ppewise) or even at the servo/shop after a call or training (either wear the full turnout gear or wear a duty shirt/brigade shirt and turnout pants) I do and im sure many others care about the appearance of your brigades rural or urban but in the urban areas you are 50 times more visible to the public and the more which is said about the proffesionalism and effiency of our service should encourage more probationary firees and hopefully a sense of proffesionan pride in our brigades.

[TillerMan]

The chief should also realise that if a brigade is given piece of crap trucks and equipment that no-one will want to join and the people who are already in the brigade won't care anymore. It all starts with having pride in your brigade. Most brigades used to have at least one truck that was the pride of the brigade and now they are getting heaps of crap which need to be sent back to the manufacturer every week. I know it's not the complete answer but it would be a good start.

[bajdas]

In regards to people moving to follow work or for other reasons..

Does the CFS have a paper system where the Brigade closest to where the ex-member is moving to is notified ? The notice could include a training record, length of membership, significant incidents attended, etc, etc.

Then perhaps they could be approached into joining the nearest CFS Brigade to their new home. At least they would feel welcome into the new area by being approached. So instead of a resignation it turns into a possible transfer.

The same with resignations. Could a paper system work that approaches ex members in six months time to offer a position in Operations, QuarterMaster, Communications, etc. Or maybe the reason for resignation has passed and they might re-join if pushed slightly.

From personal experience I know SES do not do this well, so would it work in CFS ?

[rescue5271]

If a young person was to read that story why would they want to join.... as for a 17 yo lt,well if he has come up throu cadets he will be fine give him a go and if he does not fit the boots you can always vote him out... But come on young people are the future and they are what the services needs. It also needs a mix of young and old members for a number of reasons,they need to learn from us old farts and the old farts need to learn from the young one's.. We have a LT who is 20 he is doing a great job and he will ask us old farts for advice or help when needed.....

[Mike]

If a young person was to read that story why would they want to join.... as for a 17 yo lt,well if he has come up throu cadets he will be fine give him a go and if he does not fit the boots you can always vote him out... But come on young people are the future and they are what the services needs. It also needs a mix of young and old members for a number of reasons,they need to learn from us old farts and the old farts need to learn from the young one's.. We have a LT who is 20 he is doing a great job and he will ask us old farts for advice or help when needed.....

Well said....

[pete]

We put out fires,volunteering is just a piece of it.

[Sam]

I Wish that most people would stop thinking that all young people are the SAME!!!!!!! Not all of us take drugs, or drive their cars like maniaks.... I could start saying that all old people are grumps and hate every young person, but i wont because i know that they ARE NOT! We have to stop saying they all dont give a crap and open your eyes further than that. We have multiple young guys and girls in our brigade, just as dedicated and willing to "GIVE" as you "OLD" people. I certainly wonder after reading your some of the comments on here why i would want to volly at the age of 18. I put in just as much effort as everyone else and i am not allone.
We have to start encouraging people in anyway because that is the life of CFS! It will dissapear and loose all its skills if we do not train the younger people and hand down the skills that you have learnt.

 

[Robert-Robert34]

I agree with you Sam but in most South Australian towns such as mine the Country Fire Service isnt supported by the community for some reason quite possibly because the farmers and other tradesmen would rather sit in the pub drinking beer instead of protecting their community for nothing

I can tell you this it would be good to see the government introduce compulsory volunteer service for year 12 students so they have extra things on their portfolio.... Take me for example i was getting good grades in Community Studies & English because of my volunteering with the Country Fire Service

My volunteering with the CFS also secured me 6 months work with Green Corps because its community umpaid work

What i am getting at is we need to change the attitude of those communities who don't support their CFS brigade by showing them there is more to being a volunteer fire fighter than meets the eye

[oz fire]

I agree with you Sam but in most South Australian towns such as mine the Country Fire Service isn't supported by the community for some reason quite possibly because the farmers and other tradesmen would rather sit in the pub drinking beer instead of protecting their community for nothing

I think history also has a lot to do with it. From my experience where some communities don't fully back their CFS, it has a lot to do with previous occurrences in the community, previous perceptions of the CFS, personalities within the CFS and the requirements to be in CFS.

For many years CFS carried people on their books "just in case there was a fire" in others when the mandatory training came in people exited - assuming that because they had lived on the land, they knew all about fire fighting.

Interestingly when small communities are confronted by large fires, that people come out of the wood work, they rally behind and support THEIR CFS and it's members ..... maybe we just need to find that little area that will get those same people more involved regularly.

Posts in other areas in this forum quote excellent numbers joining, training and becoming aware of the CFS on the Eyre Penn. - it's just a pity that a devastating fire had to occur for this to happen and as history shows (follwing Ash Wed in SA and the 94 fires in NSW) numbers and interest do increase following large events, just time then opens the gap again and number dwindle.

At the end of the day - We are, today a Professional Service with an excellent reputation, many new things and many exciting prospects - we just need to get people through the door to see them - thats the challenge and I for one don't see compulsory volunteering as the solution

[pete]

The chances of a younger person getting burned are higher than of someone who has years of experience.We got to blend them slowly into the system.But of course humans all make mistakes.

[oz fire]

Pete - how do you blend them in your brigade??

I agree the problem we often have though is crewing - one or two senior members with the rest new mebers - they are very keen

[pete]

Slowly gaining experience and confidence is the way to go if you want dot your i,s and cross your t,s in this constantly watched service.Some people i agree have natural talent...

[fire03rescue]

re he chances of a younger person getting burned are higher than of someone who has years of experience.
sorry wrong, most of the firefighters that get burnt or hurt are in the 30's 40's age group and been in the service for a while. Why I am not sure may be complacent

[PF_]

I agree with the notion that young people do join so they will get something for themselves.  But as a young person I also agree with Sam.

The reason I agree with the first point is because people always want something in it for themselves, be it pride, experience or knowing they are doing something.  (I am also aware hat hat is probably not what is meant by the article, bu oh well.)  I joined the CFS for myself, as it is my goal to eventually join the SAMFS, and CFS is a place to gain expereince and get a sense of what fireifghting is all about.  But I also joined to help people and do something rather than sitting on my donkey for my own purpose.  Which is where I agree with Sam.  Some young people do care and do want to help.

[pete]

at the end of the day we all look after no 1 first

[strikeathird]

at the end of the day we all look after no 1 first

I dunno, I personally wouldn't come out if I didn't have my BA partner with me.  Won't leave any one behind.

Call me traditional, call me stupid, call me what ever you want, but I aint gonna live with the fact I left a fellow "brother" / member, inside a job.





Guess not all of us just look after Number 1 !...

[PF_]

at the end of the day we all look after no 1 first

I dunno, I personally wouldn't come out if I didn't have my BA partner with me.  Won't leave any one behind.

Call me traditional, call me stupid, call me what ever you want, but I aint gonna live with the fact I left a fellow "brother" / member, inside a job.





Guess not all of us just look after Number 1 !...

Call you someone wih morals who knows about the brotherhood and the camraderie and team work.  I wouldnt leave my partner in a burning building, you go in together you come out together.