SA Firefighter

You left out a couple of frequencies that us vollies down here in the SE can hear and they are

161.1125 MHz
163.5625 MHz

Rob, I was only talking about Dispatch Channels handled out of VicFire Ballarat.

161.1125 is REG4A (Main). The channel that all comms in R4 used to be conducted on at Station/Group level. Now it's limited to a small few that are still doing this until such time as they get adequate coverage and cut across to a Dispatch Repeater.

163.5625 is a repeater but for the REG4A channel, not VicFire Ballarat Dispatch.

If you've listened to either of these frequencies lately, you should've noticed a sharp decline in the amount of radio traffic you'll hear because 80% of R4 now talks to VicFire Ballarat on other frequencies.

G'day interstate counterparts,

Just thought you might like to know I saw Murray Bridge's new 'Type 2' Pumper looking pretty much completed through a garage door at SEM's (formerly Skilled Engineering) workshop in Wendouree (Ballarat) today.

Cheers,
James 'DJ Wiz' Witham
Volunteer Firefighter
Sebastopol CFA (formerly Portland CFA).

p.s. For anyone who may be interested, I've put up an online stream of my scanner here in Ballarat. It's tuned to the Region 15 (Ballarat and district) channel which has traffic for the greater Ballarat area and outlying groups also VicFire Ballarat Dispatch ch. 201 which has surrounding brigades in Regions 6, 15 & 16. For anyone who wants a listen the URL is http://cfa-ballarat.ham-radio-op.net:8000.

The 2 prototype Heavy Tanker's are touring CFA Region 4 until Thursday with a quick stint in Mt. Gambier this morning. Our Portland Brigade OIC Ops. Officer Gary Harker has been in charge of their visit to this region and so his reliever (Ops. Officer David Ferguson from Warrnambool) and our brigade's 2nd Lieutenant Geoff Place have been driving them around to the different groups for their evaluation sessions aswell as taking plenty of photo's which I hope to get my hands on and place on our brigade web site in the near future.

Anyway, here are the specifications:

VARLEY Heavy Tanker on MAN 18.285 LARC (4x4) Crew Cab Chassis:

* Engine - 206kW (280HP) turbo-charged, intercooled, 6 cylinder diesel.
* GVM - 15T (de-rated from 18T GVM).

Fitted with:
* ZF 5 speed automatic transmission c/w hydraulic retarder and provision for 2 live engine dependent PTO outlets.
* Constant all wheel drive two-speed transfer case.
* Hub reduction front and rear axles (standard).
* Rear axle fitted with differential lock
* Air conditioning
* ABS
* Air horn
* Power mirrors
* Bullbar
* Cabin internal roll bar
* Electric cab tilt
* Seating for 6 crew
* A vehicle/crew spray protection system (with in-cabin controls)
* Control console includes remote control for monitor.

Firefighting body:
* Water tank -3,750 litres capacity (750 litres reserved for a vehicle/crew spray protection system which cannot physically be used for firefighting).
* Pump GAAM MK325/Hatz diesel engine.
* Priming pump - electric.
* Live delivery hose reel - electric rewind.
* Live suction hose reel (permanently connected) - electric rewind.
* Dead hose reel - electric rewind.
* Water hose reel, high pressure electric rewind (supplied from QuikSpray high pressure pump driven by main pump engine c/w electric clutch).
* Class B foam induction system c/w 50 litre foam tank and electric fill pump.
* Magnum front spray
* Monitor risers (2x)
* Hydrant boost feeders (2x)
* Pump, suction and boost bleed valves.
* Combination ladder - Little Giant.
* Folding ladder - QuikStow 3.7M (stowed in locker.)
* Roll bar fitted to front of tray.
* Park and response mode LED emergency lighting.
* LTS Siren (Wail, Yelp, Mix, PA)
* CFA Motorola MCS2000 Mobile Radio
* 24V electrical system with 4 battery's (one backup/fail-safe)
* In-cabin Battery isolator
* Lockers to suit stowage requirements.
* Top access crew platform lockers (one insulated).
* A vehicle/crew spray protection system (with crew area controls).
* Additional water level gauge in crew area pump control panel.
* Rear towing eyes (Two)
* Remote control monitor - Elkhart sidewinder.
* Storage items - as selected by sub-working group.

My experiences/comments/comparisons:
* Truck has very slow pick-up especially up-hill even though it's engine specs are slightly better and it has 250 litres (KG's) less water (MAN are supposed to be looking into this as it should not be the case.
* Controls are European so everything's backwards (indicators, retarder control, manual windows wind opposite direction)
* Remote controlled electric monitor with controls in the cab and crew area - pull up at a rubbish hopper fire and never leave the cab for the firefight (our previous Leading Firefighter told great stories about the R.C. monitor on their Scania Heavy Pumper at Morwell). This monitor was broken by the Region 4 Ops. Manager yesterday (won't move up and down), apparently it was only replaced Monday and will be replaced/repaired again.
* Plumbing is very complicated apparently. 250 litres less water.
* Suction hose reel found not to work as effectively as SEM/Mack prototype (needs repair), but I prefer electric rewind wheel system on this truck for a quicker pack up.
* 100 Metres of High pressure hose line which is useful, but if there's only one it should be fitted to the rear not just the left. Brigades with plantations have given very positive feedback about this because they'll be able to pull up, not have to bowl out hose for such great distances and have plenty of pressure to reach the crowns of the trees. Rolling the hose back up is as simple as pushing a button.
* CFA asked the working party to try something different with an improved future in mind and the working party decided to trial Storz fittings for inlets/outlets. That's not to say that if we went with the Varley we couldn't stick with CFA 3 or 5 thread fittings.
* Several LED response lights on front of vehicle, very effective, for some reason they have decided to stick with rotating beacons at the rear though? (i.e. LED's are proved to be effective here and space-saving).
* Have they considered roller shutter locker doors? Swing doors do save locker space but make it harder and less safer to have (multiple) locker doors open at once.
* Overall this vehicle is fitted out more like a Pumper/Tanker, (which is not at all unexpected since this is Varley's first Tanker design. They have churned out several pumpers though.) as an Urban firefighter with rural fringe, this appeals to me, but if the intention is to place these trucks in areas based solely on their higher volume of water or 4WD capabilties then this might not be necessary or relevant.

SEM (Skilled Equipment Manufacturing) Heavy Tanker on Mack Midlum MV15HD (4x4) Crew Cab Chassis.

* Engine - 201kW (270HP) turbo-charged, intercooled, 6 cylinder diesel engine (upgraded from 158kW (215HP)).
* GVM - 15T

Fitted with:
*Automatic transmission - Allison MD3060 c/w hydraulic retarder and provision for optional live engine dependent PTO outlet.
* Constant all wheel drive - two-speed transfer case fitted with centre differential lock. Rear axle fitted with inter-wheel differential lock.
* Air conditioning.
* ABS (standard).
* Ventilated disc brakes - air actuated (standard).
* Air horn
* Power mirrors
* Electric windows (front & rear)
* CD player (oh yeah!)
* Brush bar (MACK Option)
* Electric cab tilt
* Rear crew access door
* Seating for 5 crew (rear middle seat folds up for rear door access)
* Cabin internal roll bar
* Roll bar fitted to rear of cabin.
* Garmin GPS128 unit
* A vehicle/crew spray protection system (with in-cabin controls)
* Control console includes remote control for front spray nozzle.

Firefighting body:
* Water tank - 4,000 litres capacity (including 750 litres dedicated for a vehicle/crew spray protection system which cannot physically be used for firefighting).
* Pump GAAM MK325/Hatz Diesel engine
* Priming pump - electric
* Live delivery hose reel fitted with swivel base electric rewind.
* Suction hose tray with permanently connected flexible suction hose.
* Class A foam Robwen HF500A injection system c/w slide-out drum rack for 2x 20 litres Carboys (with suction dipstick fitted to one drum).
* Class B foam induction system c/w slide-out drum rack for 2x 20 litre Carboys (drum holder only - suction dispstick supplied for use at rear inductor).
* Remote controlled front spray.
* Monitor risers (2x)
* Hydrant boost feeders (2x)
* Pump, suction and boost bleed valves.
* 'Little Giant' combination ladder.
* Manual hose winder (stowed in locker) which is attached to the rear of the appliance for rolling up 25-38mm hose.
* Park and response mode LED emergency lighting.
* LTS Siren (Wail, Yelp, Mix, PA)
* CFA Motorola MCS2000 Mobile Radio
* 24V electrical system with 4 battery's (one backup/fail-safe)
* In-cabin Battery isolator
* Lockers to suit stowage requirements.
* A vehicle/crew spray protection system (with crew area controls).
* Single rear towing pin.
* Storage items - as selected by sub-working group.

My experiences/comments/comparisons:
* Excellent engine performance and pick-up (World-leading Allison 6-speed Automatic Transmission really helps here too)
* MACK Crew Cabin (read 'Taj Mahal') is very spacious and luxurious compared to MAN however one less crew seat in rear of cab.
* Rear Access door provides quick exit from crew area for safety (in case of a burnover) or to save time having to stop the vehicle during firefighting operations.
* One of the disc brakes has been warped on the front left hand side and so the driving was restricted to our 2nd Lieutenant who's been using the retarder carefully until this is fixed.
* Extra 250 litres of water compared to Varley
* We were ready to pump in 60 seconds with the live suction hose reel setup on this truck (practically just as quick as setting up for tank fill from a hydrant).
* Class A Foam injection system. Varley doesn't have A class at all.
* No B Class injection system, has to be inducted.
* Foam drum slide-out trays are where the crew area access ladders are either side of the vehicle, when they're slid out, you cannot use the access ladder anymore. I can't forsee a problem here though since you should only need to slide out to retrieve/replace foam carboys and their's always the ladder on the other side or the cabin rear access door.
* Monitor is SEM patented stainless steel with Unifire V18 nozzle, manually operated (so no cabin control), stored in the crew area.
* Have they considered roller shutter locker doors? Again, swing doors do save locker space but make it harder and less safer to have (multiple) locker doors open at once.
* Their is a riser on the front bullbar of this truck which they intend to develop into a front spray that would cover around 5 metres in front and to the left of the truck for safe passage of the vehicle and rapid running grass fire knockdown. Would have liked to have seen it in action for this visit.
* LED response lights for front and rear, bigger and less quanity than the Varley but still very effective.

Anyway, fingers crossed one of these trucks ends up at Portland once the evaluation is completed!   I won't go in depth with details but the CFA are also trialling Scania Heavy Pumpers (6 built and in use at stations already), a Scania Mk5 Heavy Mid-mounted Pumper with cabin BA seating (was at Dandenong and placed into service by CFA but UFU complained so now it's at Berwick all-volunteer station nearby - photo's on the Dandenong Fire Brigade web site at http://fire.bmjenkins.com.au/ ) and a Low Profile Light Pumper on a Ford F250 cab chassis (at Bornia Fire Station) for accessing low clearance areas such as underground carparks.

100km 'WEST' of Mount Gambier... ?

Thanks for the observation, edited.

My apologies for taking so long to reply but I only just came across this thread.

To set the record straight about Portland Fire Brigade (Victoria, CFA, approx. 100Km's east of Mt. Gambier, SA):

*Staff - ...consists of our Officer-in-charge, Operations Officer Gary Harker (former Fire Officer at Morwell CFA in the Latrobe Valley and Firefighter at Dandenong CFA east of Melbourne, the busiest Victorian brigade) who I believe is required to spend minimum 40% of his time administering our brigade and the rest looking after (primarily) the southern part of CFA Region 4 (with Headquarters ~100Km's north of here at Casterton) but as Regional Duty Officer and sometimes acting Operations Manager (formerly rank of Regional Officer) he travels the entire region from time to time. We also have a Leading Firefighter (Currently Paul Summons on loan from Morwell CFA for 6 months) on duty 9am-5pm weekdays to help with training, administration, maintenance, daytime crew numbers e.t.c. It is in the pipeline that within 2-5 years we will have a Fire Officer and Leading Firefighter on dayshift, 7 days a week and further down the track 24 hour manning. The rest of the brigade's man-power is made up of Volunteer firefighters as the CFA currently does not have retained firefighters.

*Stations & Equipment - Our main station is located in the CBD in Percy St. and has a 4-bay Motor Room currently housing a Type 3 Medium Pumper (soon to be replaced with a Heavy), 3.4D Tanker, Region Spare 3.4D Tanker, Brigade Owned Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV - which houses Rescue, HAZMAT, Salvage and additional Breathing Apparatus equipment) and stored in the Brigade shed at the rear of the station is our Brigade Owned Strike Team Leader's Vehicle (4WD Hilux Ute) and a CFA Trailer Pump (Volkswagen 2000LPM). This station is currently being reviewed by the CFA for renovations and extensions mostly for future 24 hour staff needs (i.e. mainly bedrooms but also extra office space, areas for laundry, a drying room, disable toilet, staff day (mess) room, bigger workshop with garage to replace brigade shed). We also have a Satellite Station at the Port Of Portland round-a-bout to provide a faster response time for members who live and/or work in South Portland (including myself). This premises is an old service station on loan for free from the Port Of Portland Harbour Trust and currently houses a retrofitted 2.2D Pumper/Tanker. Originally just a Tanker, it now has a couple of lockers fitted for B.A. and Forcible entry tools aswell as improved pump and plumbing e.t.c. VicRoads are in the progress of surveying for the construction of an overpass that will see this building demolished within the year and probably replaced with a standard CFA rural fire shed (2-bay) on adjacent land. Because of our significant industrial risk and our isolated area (next nearest major urban brigade response is Warrnambool, 100Km's East) we are grateful to have been provided with these 2 stations, several appliances and specialist equipment such as 4* $6,000 ea. Drager BG4 long-duration Breathing Apparatus sets and a $27,500 Thermal Imaging Camera (which even Warrnambool Brigade with it's 500 calls per year doesn't have).

*Risk/Calls - Our brigade only attends about 150 calls per year but we have a significant industrial risk in our area (which helps qualify us for staff and special equipment). We have the Portland Aluminium smelter which employs around 600 people with 2 large potrooms and high voltage power lines run all the way from the other side of Victoria. Portland Aluminium has it's own Emergency Response team (our Brigade captain is in charge of this under his role as Plant Health Services Co-ordinator) with a Pumper (featured on the SEM Fire & Rescue web site - www.semfirerescue.com.au ), 4WD Ute, equipment trailer and an ambulance. These appliances are crewed by employee's (one from each area of the plant per shift is trained for this, some are in our brigade and some in the local SES unit).
The existance of this Industrial Fire Service is another reason why our brigade's calls are so low as we are only called to attend Portland Aluminium for significant fires/incidents. Our other large risk is the Port Of Portland, we have the potential for large fires in indoor and outdoor woodchip piles, grain silo's, small and large trawlers and ships alongside the wharf and off-shore. In August 2002, we had a major fire in the VicGrain Conveyor Belt and called for an Aerial Appliance from Ballarat City and a Protective Equipment Van from Corio (North Geelong), both appliances are about 3 hours travel from Portland.

In concluding, thank you Kat for your interest and query, have no shame in the nose-pressed-to-the-window approach as I'm guilty of the same thing everywhere I travel. As for 'rescue5271' in not-so-far-away Naracoorte; unfortunately we don't have a senior running team these days and although we are still very family-friendly, the old-style of Mum, Dad and kids all being in the brigade has mostly ceased in recent years with those brigade members moving on to other parts of the country for work e.t.c.

I am more than happy to answer any questions about our Brigade e.t.c. and if anyone is ever travelling through the area, feel free to contact me in advance to arrange a tour through our station if your visit will fall after hours (outside the Leading Firefighter's weekday dayshift roster). Hopefully I will have our brigade web site (www.portlandfirebrigade.org.au) back up and running properly (the menu isn't currently working so only the news page displays) soon, with all the information above and more.

p.s. Some of you might like to know that our brigade has travelled to Mt. Gambier a couple of times during the last decade (1995 and 1997 I think) to step up for Mount Gambier MFS whilst they were at a major sawmill fire at one time and a major copper chrome arsonate? leak the other time. Our Captain tells a great story of an alarm (actual fire) at the TAFE College where on our arrival, the Fire Warden said "Gee, it takes them 8 minutes to get here and it only took you 4 minutes to get here from Victoria   ". Apparently we used to train twice annually with the Mt. Gambier MFS but that stopped before I joined the brigade. If anyone on this site is from the Mt. Gambier MFS, I would love to hear from you and possibly rekindle this relationship between our 2 major isolated urban brigades.