Worst Part Of The Fire Season Still To Come

[Robert-Robert34]

Hi there everyone it's Robert here.... now i know we have seen a few bad fires happen so far this season but from what i read in The Border Watch today there are more testing times ahead in the next few months according to the Country Fire Service

The Ngarkat,Spalding and Murray Bridge fires are tastes of whats yet to come as a fire fighter from my brigade who recently retired from the CFS has told me that the big one like Black Tuesday,Ash Wednesday and Black Sunday is going to happen sometime this season quite possibly in Feburary at the peak of the fire season

If this prediction is true im going to stay behind and defend my home even though theres a chance i might be pulled away from home to respond in a Strike Team

Either way i have the important obligation as a Volunteer Firey to protect Life and Property

[medevac]

.....

roger....
 take a chill pill, we needa relax a bit and not worry, or be alarmist.

[Robert-Robert34]

I am trying to relax medevac but the weather on Sunday really brought home the reality of another Black Sunday like Adelaide hills had in 1955 but thankfully the Lower South East was spared a spanking by a large fire   

What i am getting at is even though there are a few cool days after Thursday we shouldnt let down our guard as the weather pattern is following quite possibly the same pattern as it did in 2000 when the Wandilo fire happened   

But for the mean time im gonna relax and wait 

[fire03rescue]

I have been told for the last 20 years, we are going to have the big one.

It might happen this year or next or 20 years.

PS - Just about every year has started the same
eg hot, Father Christmas, new years , hot, hot etc

[oz fire]

There is one thing guaranteed - it is going to happen - it's only a matter of time, as for when who knows.

The days of alarming the public have gone (or crying wolf) we are at last learning that the public needs to be educated - we can only put the messages out there for them to take - when they don't they are the losers, it's just unfortunate we have to suffer their incompetence and arrogance.

In the mean time, kicking back and waiting - can't change it, fight the fire we have not the one we plan to have and most of all, when the call comes, if you can assist - so be it, if you can't your also guaranteed there will be more!

[PF_]

What is themajor fire we are waiting for?  Black Tuesday was a big one, 9 people died.  Almost all of the Eyre PEninsula got burnt.  That might have been the 20 year big one.  Who knows..

[rescue5271]

The big one will come when it gets here sooner or later and we will all do our best to protect ourselfs and those that are the appliances as well as do our job.. Just take care of yourself and your crew...

[strikeathird]

The big one won't come....  The bombers will stop it...   

[Robert-Robert34]

Very true strikeathird the bombers would stop it but bear in mind when the big one happens the day will be very hot and windy making air attack too risky to undertake leaving us ground crews to fight it

P_F yes the Black Tuesday fire has been the only fire in the last few years to have claimed human life and break all records in terms of FDI and temperature.... however according to my dad Ash Wednesday is the worst fire to have ever hit whole of South Australia and cause mass carnage & chaos

Should the big one occur it will be either on one of the days that great fires in the past have happened on

[Firefrog]

Every Year the Alarmists say the fuel load has never been greater the weather has never been so hot/windy etc. etc..........

What we have to focus on is training, educating the public and preparing for whatever incident requires our attention.

It is pointless concerning ourselves with what might happen we need to be focussed on important things like being safe and looking after our mates.

The facts are that this has already been a very busy season with multiple large fires. This does not mean that we are any more or less likely to have more big fires. We might, but we also might not. Let's hope that we do not.

[kat]

Thinking on Ash Wednesday: Currently we have better aerial support,our appliances are better and better maintained, our crews better trained and our organisational structures and incident management skills better.

All in all I'd reckon it's an educated guess that despite the rare and extreme circumstances of Ash Wednesday we, as a service, and as a community would fare better with those same fires if encountered today.

Something like a third of the CFS fleet did not arrive at the fires on Ash Wednesday due to mechanical failures.

[pumprescue]

Just keep fighting the good fight, Robert you won't miss the big one, i sometimes consider going to an alarm the big one, depending on the size of the zones and how many have activated.

[strikeathird]

lol

[oz fire]

The big one won't come....  The bombers will stop it...   

The joys of innocence ............. just like the bombers, helicopters and sky cranes stoped the Victorian fires.

Let's not kid ourselves, lets face reality - there will be days, where regardless of what resources we have that fires will be beyond our control regardless of how many fire fighters, trucks, aerial resources we have.

Our goal is to ensure that we are ready, trained and proficient to be able to assist our communities when it occurs.

[strikeathird]

I think i'll have to put a sarcasm meter on my posts...  People don't actually think i was half serious about the bombers comment do you !! ?   


 

[CaptCom]

As a firefighter that was right in the middle of Black Tuesday, I hope that it was our big one...for your sakes if not those of us who have been through it...BUT look at the change in the weather patterns...this is what dictates the bad ones..we have the high fuel loads etc but it's the wind and temp that makes it BAD..do the calcs...how windy, hot and low RH does it have to be to get the FDI to 365 (what they've calculated it to have been)...we have already had a couple of days of 45..the only difference..no fires..

We can wait but wait prepared, have a plan..as you said Robert, plan not to go on a strike team at the time your needed in your own area..

I unfortunately believe that it won't be the last bad fire I'm involved with as a firefighter...

[PF_]

I think i'll have to put a sarcasm meter on my posts...  People don't actually think i was half serious about the bombers comment do you !! ?   


 

The curse of the text striker, with no voice tone to put in people will always interpret stuff differently.  Sometimes it can be ammusing when someone misses the "joke"  (that was half sarcasm too, just for the record )

[strikeathird]

As a firefighter that was right in the middle of Black Tuesday, I hope that it was our big one...for your sakes if not those of us who have been through it...BUT look at the change in the weather patterns...this is what dictates the bad ones..we have the high fuel loads etc but it's the wind and temp that makes it BAD..do the calcs...how windy, hot and low RH does it have to be to get the FDI to 365 (what they've calculated it to have been)...we have already had a couple of days of 45..the only difference..no fires..

We can wait but wait prepared, have a plan..as you said Robert, plan not to go on a strike team at the time your needed in your own area..

I unfortunately believe that it won't be the last bad fire I'm involved with as a firefighter...

I understand what u mean by not going on a strike team when u may be needed, but at the same time you have to fight the fire at hand, and not wait for what could..

[Mike]

Assess whats in front of you at the time.... and base your descisions on that.....

[oz fire]

Do we attend the incident we have ..... or the one we could have?

IF it's the one we could have, then lets not leave home to attend the station, in case we have a fire at home!

[rescue5271]

Deal with the job that you have and if another one pops up deal with that,it all gets back to pre planning at brigade and group level......

[Robert-Robert34]

You hit the nail right on the head rescue5271 it all goes back to pre-planning prior to the emergency happening 

[CaptCom]

You're right and it all depends on your rank at times..eg I'm a Capt, so I have Brigade considerations as well as my own and the community that I live in...it's not always as easy as putting your hand up for a strike team...

[Robert-Robert34]

If I had the choice between going out with a strike team and staying at home to protect the town from a big fire i would rather stay behind and protect Kalangadoo from the big one

Even though i'll have limited resources in terms of fire fighting equipment apart from the standpipe,38 mm hose & a TB 25 nozzle stored in our fire shed's pump room it all comes down to problem solving and using what equipment you have at your disposal

Should the power fail & town water supply cut off by SA Water i'll focus on evacuations and establising a forward command centre at the fire shed cause i have alot of radio equipment that needs to be used to see if it can handle large volumes of radio traffic 

[medevac]