sunshinecoast rural fire fighters

Congratulations to Wayne Ford on his election as the Caboolture District Rep for the RFBAQ.

A hearty thanks must also go to Harry Baxter for his dedication to improving the plight of RFS volunteers all around the state. The RFBAQ has come along way since its inception.

We have now received a response from our contact in regard to the question of the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 and whether it impacts on volunteers, as well as the question of how a volunteer can be considered a 'public officer'.
Our information indicates that while there has been some historical debate about whether volunteers are caught by the PSE, consideration over time by the Crime and Misconduct Commission and the Ethical Standards Unit, has led to the current understanding that volunteers are captured by the PSA Codes of Conduct , in the same way as other 'public officials'.The Act defines public officials as constituent members of a 'public sector entity'. Public sector entities are defined as an instrumentality established under an Act and rural fire brigades are established under the Fire legislation. The net result is the rural fire brigades and their members are captured by the PSE.Volunteers are referenced in the current DES code of conduct. The Rural Fire Service publishes a range of material in relation to the conduct expected of volunteers and the new Code (currently being developed) does not undermine that material.Volunteers are considered no less than employees in respect of the central principles that underpin the Codes of Conduct under the PSE.

Posting Nomination forms to Brigades By 7 th April 2005.

Nomination Forms to be received by Returning Officer By 31 st May 2005.

Nominations Collated. By 7 th June 2005.

Where single nominations only received from a District

(i) Candidate declared elected for that District. By 14 th June 2005.

(ii) Notify Candidate/s

(iii) Notify Brigades. By 30 th June 2005.

Where more than one nomination is received in any District

Ballot Papers posted to Brigades. By 14 th June 2005.

Closing date for receipt of Ballot Papers by Returning Officer. By 14 th July 2005

Ballot papers opened and counted. By 21 st July 2005

Poll Declared Candidate Notified By 31 st July 2005

Brigades Notified of Result By 14 th August 2005

Audit of Election, Election Material Destroyed. By 31 st August 2005

I here by unreservedly apologise to Barry for the spoonerism which inadvertantly misidentified you as Harry at Nanango. This apology also extends to those who were offended on Barry's behalf and didn't inform me that I had made a blue. I don't think the mishap arose entirely because of a typo, although the b and the h are very close together on the key board, rather it would seem that a fast moving mind just didn't see the slip... I can assure I really do know who Barry is and now I'm sure he wishes he did not know me.

1. Fill your T cards in properly : this means print clearly all crew names ( anyone in IC must be able to read the crew members names without having to get in a specialist to decipher the calligraphy or use a magnifying glass) - fill in everything that you can on the front as well, folks in IMT cannot read minds.
2. Driving: SLOW DOWN - there is no need to be driving on footpaths, through red lights or using sirens etc..when heading out to join a strike team...obey the speed limits and all road rules.
3. Crew selection : ensure that all crew who go out are fit enough for the job, each crew member needs to be able to give 100% to the team effort... illness, alcohol, fatigue and stress or even pressing family commitments should be enough to rule anyone out
4. Fatigue management: No one should be attending an incident in their own area and then later that day heading off as part of a strike team for an all night stint on the fireground....it's Ok to be keen but not to the point of compromising the safety of crews on the fireground...fatigue is dangerous ...fatigue impares decsion making, slows reaction times and can make folks difficult to get on with.
5. Consumables: If the IMT has water, foam or other consumables on hand for brigades to use - remember that this is for everyone's use.... DO NOT take more than you will need, do not stock up your brigades' year's supply at the expense of other brigades on the fireground

Kilcoy: Saturday 30th 10.00 - Kilcoy fire station

Kenilworth: Tuesday 2nd Nov 19.00 @ Belli rural shed -1170 Eumundi-Kenilworth rd

Crews from Eudlo, Montville, Doonan and Mapleton & one lad from Tanawah who somehow managed to hitch a ride with Eudlo, spent a very hectic couple of days over at Yarraman putting in a containment line from Noora Road through to Cooyar Creek. A monster dozer aka " Mad Max" with a very capable operator ( Dennis) was used to push a bare earth line from which crews created a very effective hot line that burnt back into the going fire. We were working underneath the twin high tension power lines feeding from Tarong power station. During idle moments there was some speculation about the long term effects of working under these constantly fizzing meccano structures.
Monday saw us slowing burning off a goat track through cow paddocks until the dozer arrived. Once on scene things progressed quite rapidly, it is so much easier to burn off a bare earth line ( tip for IMT here). We ran out of daylight and the final section was pushed with the dozer following a bloke carrying a torch. I went to bed happy that a bare earth line was in place around our sector,( with all the dozer work and the exisiting roads on top of ridge on other side of the creek), should things go haywire over night or the next day, we had only one structure in our area and it was safe at all times.
Tuesday's activities had all manner of thrills, not the least of which was the extracation of Mapleton's landcruiser from the bottom of the steep line pushed by the dozer into the creek. The bull dust was knee deep and the poor old cruiser just couldn't get traction.... the dozer had no trouble hauling the toyota back up, I wished I had a camera.
A small spot over caused by a big rotten apple gum was valiantly saved by a lot of hard work. We had 300 or more meters of hose out and sheer determination on the part of the guys climbing around on the side of the gully ensured that we met with sucess. The image of Hamish and Chris carrying hose back up from the creek will stay with me for quite some time.We sent a light attack off in search of the dozer and IC sent out an SES search crew to help. Eventually the dozer was located so that we could move the giant apple that had collapsed into the creek amongst a stand of sheoaks that would have sent the fire racing up the other side of Cooyar creek and on its way to Yarraman and Balckbutt.The dozer made a new path down to the creek from the other side of the gully, pushing iron bark trees like they were match sticks and somehow he managed to steer away from the cliffs and follow a steep narrow spur down into the creek. The apple tree was firmly delt with by the dozer blade, at least an meter and half in diameter at its base. I have never seen a tree come down on the fire ground with such a clean break, it looked like someone had done some very fancy chainsaw work. Even Bob would have been impressed.
Wednesday morning the strike team had their own debrief session which was interrupted by IC who sent us out to"throw everything" at a smoulding road verge that some silly sod had lit without a permit while there was a fire ban. He must have very impressed to see the entire strike team arrive! Having achieved objective, with "2 small buckets of water", we returned to IC and they promptly sent us home with an obligotary 'well done lads' speech in our ears.
Incident control was back at Nanango, 40 minutes away, they managed to feed everyone from time to time and eventually send replacement crews out so that we could get to bed in the motel back at Nanango. Everyone coming off shift had to run the guantlet of the Ambo waiting at IC, luckily we'd all been drinking plenty of water. Dick was IC on Monday when we arrived and he handed over to Sandy . Tuesday morn saw the arrival of the mod squad from the coast: Eric, Tony and Barry.
Some of the local brigades that we met on the fireground included: Seven Mile, Taromeo, South Nanango, Stuart River, Booie Rise, Brooklands & Wattle camp.

Top crew to go away with, I hope they didn't mind too much being chaperoned by Granny.