SA Firefighter
General Discussion => SA Firefighter General => Topic started by: jaff on May 26, 2009, 02:17:10 PM
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Extract taken from Saturdays Daily Telegraph, kinda changes the ballgame if governments aren't prepared to stand behind the vollies............GAME ON! :|
May 23, 2009 12:00am
VOLUNTEER firefighters are furious at a State Government move to have them named and personally held liable for the multi-million dollar cost of the deadly Canberra firestorm.
The NSW Government, fighting legal action by people who lost homes in the 2003 fire, has abandoned Rural Fire Service volunteers.
In a David and Goliath fight, Brindabella farmer Wayne West is suing the Government over the failure of the RFS to attack the McIntyre's Hut blaze in NSW early enough.
It burned for 10 days before melding with three other fires in the ACT, creating a firestorm on January 18 in which four people died and 500 homes were lost, among them Mr West's home on Wyora Station.
Government lawyer, John Maconachie, QC, told ACT Chief Justice Terence Higgins responsibility was not that of government but of firefighters, as they were volunteers not employees.
"This is filtered amazing," Volunteer Firefighters Association president Peter Cannon said yesterday. "I can tell you now that if they are going to go down that track, they are going to be fighting every volunteer firefighter in the state."
Mr Cannon, group captain of Parkes Shire RFS and a firefighter of 40 years, said volunteers would be worried.
"Who wants litigation when you are serving the community, protecting them against fires?" he said.
Mr West claimed the McIntyre's Hut fire, started by a lightning strike, could have easily been extinguished in the early days when the weather was calm but there was evidence the RFS resolved to let it burn because it was in what they labelled "scheiße country".
Yesterday he accused the Government of using legal tactics to prolong the litigation in the hope he would run out of money, but said it won't work.
In February, the High Court rejected a NSW Government appeal to strike out his benchmark case which will be the first of more than 4000 claims, including for property and personal injury, heard in the ACT Supreme Court on March 1 next year.
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What do the Financial Market and Volunteer Retention Rate's have in common.
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Let's all filtered quit then see what happens when bushfires start!
filtered this piss's me off!
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So i'm guessing Mr West isn't a volunteer fire fighter?
Well, maybe he should shut up and realise there are people willing to help their community rather than blame them for something they didn't cause and commend them for the efforts they did- what a joke :x
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What do the Financial Market and Volunteer Retention Rate's have in common.
What?
Let's all filtered quit then see what happens when bushfires start!
filtered this filtered's me off!
Yeah, not wrong. Although it sounds like it's early days yet. I'd like to think any Judge would think twice before putting volunteer fire fighters off side.
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lets just all remember that we are NOT in this situation, and are very well covered.....another one of the good things about working in SA not NSW :evil:
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misterteddy, you sound like a politician. No Offense....
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So as professionally trained & equipped persons - shouldn't you be held accountable for any gross neglect of duties (bearing in mind what MT said about SA).
Think back to some of the comments made in this forum-
"well at the end of the day its the publics repsonsiblity to take care of themselves" in reference to the stay go policy
"we need more money & equipment" - recent& ongoing thread
"we dont train all of the time - got better things to do" - debate on training
"we need more training courses" - refer to money comment
"we are only volunteers" - every time things look bad for the service members
I could go on, but I think you see my point!
As a professional in my paid employment, I like ALL others in ALL states can be dismissed, prosecuted, fined, jailed & sued, if I am found grossly neglegent - it has been that way for many years. Think what they are talking about without the emotion - someone decided to let a fire burn because it was in remote country, then failed to put in any contigency plan to prevent it spreading to populated areas. By making that choice Canberra payed the price, now if you weren't a volly fire fighter & it was your house wouldn't you be a bit filtered?
Bearing in mind whats coming out of the Victorian Royal Commission & out of the previous SA inquiries, the public (us) expects better from their emergency services - so when officers on the ground make a decision (payed or volly) it has to be based on sound judgement & hard facts & be able to stand by those decisions at a latter date! Thats what being professional is all! Finally this is really one territory fighting against one state (the ACT was filtered at NSW for letting it run).
But as MT said you croweaters have nothing to worry about :wink:
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my opinion, if your a volunteer, and your working for the "greater good" of the incident, you shouldn't be held liable. BUT, if you are contributing to the problem at hand, you should be.
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misterteddy, you sound like a politician. No Offense....
so long as I can have their perks, then none taken.
Simply Zippy, SA has great protection for Volunteers, even those that screw up unintentially. So credit given when its due....we are very lucky here
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my opinion, if your a volunteer, and your working for the "greater good" of the incident, you shouldn't be held liable. BUT, if you are contributing to the problem at hand, you should be.
Aren't you "contributing" as soon as you get involved in any way?
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misterteddy.... :D
CFS_Firey...Pfft, you know what i mean mate...
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Once a job gets over a 2nd alarm, handball to a staff member :wink:
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Once a job gets over a 2nd alarm, handball to a staff member :wink:
..and declare it a disaster so we don't have to fund it either!
(Not that the CFS has any issues with money. Any funding problems are purely because those issues are over and above their SFEC. nothing to see here)
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For those of you looking for something closer to home with the actioning of the new bikie laws today what will you do if you have a member of an outlawed motorcycle gang who is already a members of an ESO. Rember your not allowed to be around him more than six times year or you will become an assoicate. Don't forget we can't sack them but I know I will stand by them.
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Not quite right Malleefire....the association laws relate to individuals of declared organisations ( so far, the Finks are the only declared organisation) who have been served personally with an order, which prevents them from associating with OTHER members of the declared organisation...it does not stop them associating with people who are not members of the declared association.
So if your brigade has a member, who happens to be a fink, there is nothing preventing you from associating with them, except if you are a fink!!
Pip
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Thank finking sake for that Pip, as we already got a bad enough image as a town with out that hanging over our heads - Mind you I had one CFSVA and an RC flapping about our image problems over this issue which was some what ammusing in a serrious way. I maybe a rebel with out a cuase but I am cerntainly no motorcycle club member
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What do the Financial Market and Volunteer Retention Rate's have in common.
Both are taking a hammering :-D
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What do the Financial Market and Volunteer Retention Rate's have in common.
Both are taking a hammering :-D
Both are having the life sucked out of them :-P
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What do the Financial Market and Volunteer Retention Rate's have in common.
Both are taking a hammering :-D
Both are having the life sucked out of them :-P
Both are failing to achieve growth ?