SA Firefighter

I used to think that all brigades trained on the same night... It seems I was very wrong, but a lot of brigades still do train on a Monday, so I thought I'd start a poll to see.
(The results might get skewed a bit by two members of the same brigade voting, but at least we can get some idea..)

At a recent incident I went to, it became clear to me that a system for marking members' experience would be fantastic and possibly lifesaving.
When you are at an incident with another brigade, unless you do a lot of training with that brigade, its near impossible to tell how much people know, or how new they are...
I think the CFS should have a system of marking how long a member has been in the CFS. Whether we have the stars and chevrons on the helmets, or maybe a green strip around the helmet when the member is still in their first year.
this could save many mistakes made through assumptions that the other person knows what to do (How to re-commission a BA set, run a pump, even sink a standpipe )
Any thoughts / suggestions / experience with this kind of set up?

I know of two courses that have been cancelled at STC in the last couple of months because of “lack of numbers” . (HAZMAT course at the end of June and CFB Course at the beginning of August)
My brigade has had a lot of trouble getting people on these courses because they are either so popular, or we are over out Standards of Fire and Emergency Cover (SFEC's).
If courses are getting cancelled because of lack of numbers, why don't they send a page out to training officers so people can people can come in at the last minute? (so long as pre-course assignments can be done).
I can understand that we need to get everyone trained, so brigades that have enough trained members shouldn't be filling spaces, but if the courses are being cancelled anyway, whats wrong with training more people?

Out of curiosity, do any of the rural brigades (or even more Urban brigades) use CB radio to talk to truckies on the way to an incident to try and find out more details, or an exact location?

Someone (non-CFS) mentioned an interesting idea to remind about and help prepare the public for Bushfires.
She suggested that we go around to all the shops in the district and get them to have a display for the bushfire season...


*So the Hardware store would sell packages with Rake, Garden hose, goggles, gloves, etc.
*Clothes store have a display of Cotton clothes with overalls, bandanna's etc,
*Book store / Newsagent sells copies of The bushfire book, or other related material,
*Chemists sell special "bushfire" first aid kits, with eye wash/gel, burns treatment etc.
*And anything else you can think of


I thought it was a good idea, as information session's put on by CFS or Bushfire blitz tend to get ignored, but if people are seeing an opportunity to prepare everywhere they go, it could help.
Do you think this would be a good / effective idea?  Should the CFS maybe look at organizing this statewide?

Good to see that SA Firefighter just registered it's 100th member.
Congratulations on being the 100th member TillerMan!

Hey! We currently have a replacement Mets truck while our pumper is being fixed... Its an old International Acco, and has the callsign "133". I can't find any reference to a Mets station number "13"...
Does anyone know where this truck may have originally come from?

We've been trying to get wet weather gear for our brigade for the last 5 years, and have been having a lot of trouble. One of the main is that "It's not standard stowage".

Although I'm pretty sure we should have it by next winter, I'm wondering how many other brigades are having this same issue? Considering that the CFS attends a substantial number of MVA's, and that MVA's often occur when its raining, maybe we should look at changing what is "standard stowage"...

As fire fighters, we all know the difference between contained and controlled fires.
However, I don't think the CFS has done enough to let the wider community know the difference. It seems to me, that when a fire is declared Contained, the public (or the media) seem to treat the fire as though it’s under control, and is nothing to worry about...
Apart from being dangerous for residents, I think its also damages the CFS's reputation, as when a fire jumps containment lines, it appears that we've lost control of it...
Should the CFS be doing more to highlight the difference? or is it a problem with the media?

Here's a question that I've been wondering, and it'd  be interesting  to hear your thoughts:
There is a terrorist attack in Adelaide... It's possibly radiological.... Its big, and they need resources, so they respond half the states CFS brigades... If you went to help, you would most likely be exposed to some radiation... would you go?  

Although I would want to do everything I could to help, I'm still young, and don't know if cancer would be fun... I'd probably try to find another way to help, away from ground zero...

On thursday 24th March, The Stirling CFS took part in "Operation Easter Brake", a Road crash Rescue simulation that was put on for yr12 students from Heathfiled High school, Pembroke School, and Oakbank Area school...
It was basically a bad crash scenario - head on with drunk driver, Fatality and critically injured persons...
The excersise allows Students to see what happens in a crash, from the fist arriving Ambos, to Rescue and Fire trucks, Traffic Police, Major Crash, Rescue51 helicopter and intensive care paramedics....
I think its a good thing for students to what happens at a crash, but don't know if it will affect thier driving...
Do any other brigades do an excercise like this?

Just out of curiosity.... The main spirit in the CFS is the volunteer spirit...
However, what if the government decided that it would start paying CFS volunteers (per call, for example)?  I've heard some people say that they would leave if the CFS was made a paid service, as they joined to volunteer...
Would you still be happy?    This is a just a hypothetical question... I want to know peoples thoughts...
:dontknow: