SA Firefighter

I'm interested to know what activities other brigades and units do for team building and social fun.  What are your favourites? What works best?  What would you like to do?

So I notice the new 34's have a combination of Stortz and Wajax couplings.  Wajax for 25mm and 38mm, Stortz for 64mm and above.
The obvious difference to the current coupling system is that 38's and 64's can no longer be coupled together without an adapter, but 25's and 38's can be. 
What are your opinions on this choice?

Following on from discussion in New 34P...

Coming from a hills brigade where we rarely attack a running grassfire (if ever), I'm not familiar with the requirements for running grassfire attack.  Can someone explain why 3 (or more) deck lines are needed for that?

This topic has been moved to All Equipment discussion.

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Heard someone mention is passing the other day that Adelaide Hills unit has been renamed, or had some kind of re-shuffle...  Do any of the SES blokes on here know anything about that?

http://torrentfreak.com/aussie-police-pirate-080407/

A recent audit of computer systems belonging to the South Australia Police has found that hundreds are being used to “share” films. In a move smacking of hypocrisy though, officers involved will not be charged.
According to The Australian, during an audit of computer systems by the South Australian police force’s IT branch, police computers belonging to hundreds of police officers were found to contain movies.
The origin of these movies is not clear, but it is probable that they’ve been downloaded via p2p at some point, either on these systems, or on the personal systems of officers and transferred over.
Senior officials of the SA police force have been made aware of the findings, including its commissioner Mel Hyde. However, police sources have told press that there will not be any investigation into this, citing the large numbers of police officers involved.
The Australian Federation against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has said it will write to the commissioner to seek an explanation, presumably as to why the police officers are being let off with what it considers a heinous crime. Quite ironically, AFACT boasts of “working closely with police” - perhaps this closeness has shown the police officers involved just how unimportant and meaningless this so-called ‘crime’ is in the grand scheme of things.
If the officers do go unpunished, it could create a favorable precedent for filesharers in South Australia. If police officers, who are expected to be held to a greater level of accountability regarding the law, show this level of contempt for the current copyright laws, are unpunished, it will make it harder to convince a court that regular citizen should be punished for similar acts.
On the other hand, if the officers are punished under the law, which allows for upto AUS$60,500 (About US$55,700 or 35,500Euro) per infringement and up to 5 years imprisonment, the ability to effectively police the state will be severely diminished.
Either way, this case will bring to a head the vastly disproportionate penalties for an act that, as yet, has never been proven to be even financially damaging. One thing is certain, when even the police officers join large numbers of citizens in flouting such laws, the law’s place in society should be called into serious question.
The South Australian police force had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.


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Very amusing....

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http://www.safirefighter.com/boards/index.php?topic=788.0

I noticed on the ABC's Lateline report on the Californian fires that the fire fighters are forcing residents out of their homes.
What are people thoughts on doing this, and does anyone know if the CFS has an *official* policy on telling people to evacuate?

As far as I know, Australia is the only country that actively encourages residents to have a bushfire plan, and prepare to stay and fight, and not leave at the last minute...

I am sure that the five rope rescue cfs brigade's would loved to have been involved in that rescue..............

I'm sure its been discussed elsewhere, but which are the 5 brigades?

(sorry for going off topic)

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The death toll in Greece's forest fires reached at least 59 as European Union nations sent fire- fighting planes and a blaze damaged the site of the ancient Olympic games.

High temperatures and strong winds contributed to the spread of more than 220 blazes across the country since Aug. 24. "We have every reason to believe it won't stop here," Health Ministry official Panos Efstathiou said yesterday by phone, detailing the casualties.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis mobilized the army to battle the flames after declaring a state of emergency that allowed the government to requisition private property and labor. Karamanlis, who faces an election on Sept. 16, put the entire country on alert and called on citizens to assist firefighters.

"This is an indescribable national tragedy, and my pain and my anger are as deep as yours," Karamanlis said in a televised statement.

Flames trapped people who tried to flee in their cars, save their homes and fields or rescue others. Several villages in central and southern Greece were evacuated. About 60 people were hospitalized and dozens reported missing.

"Many people were surprised, panicked or refused to leave their homes," fire service spokesman Nikolaos Diamantis said yesterday in a televised news conference. Arson is suspected in many of the fires, he said.

Full Story

I wish the Greek authorities best of luck and safety.  From what I hear, the Greek fire service isn't very well kitted out for rural fires - they mostly rely on their huge water bombing fleet.