Thank God For Volunteeers!

falcon91 · 31-12-2005, 05:36 AM

( I replied to 'Philbies' Thread in The Pub, but thought this topic deserved a new thread, dedicated to our volunteers!) To all in the CFS, I would personally like to thank you devoted individuals who make up a team of dedicated selfless people who assist in our worst nightmare! Thanks a lot!

MO · 31-12-2005, 08:15 AM

I'll second that.

awsome4.0 · 31-12-2005, 11:47 AM

Yes thanks guys lets hope you have a quiet year

MO · 31-12-2005, 09:57 PM

Unfortunately I don't think it will be....the forecasts are for very hot and dry conditions...to all the vollies...stay safe.

bprint xr8 · 01-01-2006, 08:44 PM

looks like the victorian fires are under control- again a great job from the volunteers to have no lives lost and only relatively small property damage.

Good luck to the CFS guys as the NSW fires dont appear to be quite under control yet due to the nasty weather conditions - but again great to see no loss of life despite the threat.

Keepleft · 01-01-2006, 09:43 PM

It's RFS in NSW.

MO · 01-01-2006, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keepleft

It's RFS in NSW.

Your a pedantic bugger are'nt you so its RFS in NSW,Its CFA in SA,its CFS in Vic...so what, we all know they are volunteers and no matter what the state name we all know what and who we are talking about.

Redrum · 01-01-2006, 10:15 PM

Is great to see these selfless people perform beyond the call of duty and put their lives on the line to help others. I sure do appreciate it!!!

:jab:

MO · 01-01-2006, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redrum

Is great to see these selfless people perform beyond the call of duty and put their lives on the line to help others. I sure do appreciate it!!!

:jab:

So RedRum what do you do for a crust.

deesun · 02-01-2006, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keepleft

It's RFS in NSW.

And I'll bet they have safety triangles. Got the part No KEEPLEFT?

Oh sorry I forgot, lots of thanks to the firefighters no matter what state.

**Mechan1k** · 02-01-2006, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deesun

And I'll bet they have safety triangles. Got the part No KEEPLEFT?

Oh sorry I forgot, lots of thanks to the firefighters no matter what state.

C'mon ... there's no need for personal attacks.
The thread isn't about that.

It's about the thanks that everyone should give to the volunteer firefighters out there risking their lives to save others.

Redrum · 02-01-2006, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John McMaster

So RedRum what do you do for a crust.

VicPol Senior Constable

MO · 02-01-2006, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redrum

VicPol Senior Constable

AAhhhh the thin blue line...used to play games in the blue shirt myself...was Fire and Rescue am now retired and happy.

Stay safe.

gtfpv · 02-01-2006, 11:37 PM

i'm going to be pessimestic here . many people put lives on the line everyday . but everytime it is a fire fighting situation everyone bows down and calls a fire fighter a hero . not direspectful to the volenteers at all. but cmon most of em do it cause they love it.firefighters are the only people i know who get praised for doing thier job.. but on the other hand be careful guys .

Redrum · 03-01-2006, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtfpv

i'm going to be pessimestic here . many people put lives on the line everyday . but everytime it is a fire fighting situation everyone bows down and calls a fire fighter a hero . not direspectful to the volenteers at all. but cmon most of em do it cause they love it.firefighters are the only people i know who get praised for doing thier job.. but on the other hand be careful guys .

Hmmm, I have heard that sometimes, this would be very limited to a few nutters, fire fighters have lit fires. You are right, there are all sorts of heroes, but for me growing up in a semi rural town that has been gutted by fires, seeing those mums and dads who for no money rush to put a fire out, I take my hat off to them. Same for the poor buggers at the SES etc. I put my life on the line almost every day that I work, but the Government pays me a wage.... not much of one though

:

: :nutsycuck :nutsycuck :nutsycuck :nutsycuck :nutsycuck :nutsycuck :nutsycuck

Redrum · 03-01-2006, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John McMaster

AAhhhh the thin blue line...used to play games in the blue shirt myself...was Fire and Rescue am now retired and happy.

Stay safe.

Was in fire team at Ford, worked as a melt operator aluminium casting and thought I better learn to put out all those fires we kept having. Would like to be a fire fighter but hate heights. Sleeping night shift, people getting out the way of those big trucks and not copping negative feedback 99% of the time would be fantastic!! :evilsasmo

Dave_au · 03-01-2006, 08:52 AM

Speaking of which, who here is a volunteer in the RFS/CFA/CFS or SES?

I'm a firefighter with one of the Hornsby brigades, and I know that Young'an is in one in my district too.

My brigade was on standby for most of Sunday too, we were not initially responded to Gosford too because we need to keep some resources in our area on the home front - my brigade's district is Ku-Ring-Gai, which includes the Lane Cove and Gurigal valleys.

Anyway, we were still on standby for the southerly gust coming through at 9pm, Sydney Airport were recording wind gusts of up to 116km an hour, the leading edge of the change hit the Gosford fires, causing a fire storm and we were sent up there under lights and siren at about 9:15pm for property protection.

When we arrived we were immediately tasked with property protection of the fire control centre, the fire was heading directly for it at this stage and it wasn't looking very nice, just a bright orange glow, ember attacks etc. Making matters worse was the fact that the control centre had been running helicopters during the day, and air support was still on scene with about 15 barrels of Avatur, as well as a number of parked cars. Luckily a last minute wind change pushed the fire in another direction.

We packed the truck up and were retasked to join a strike force and put in a back burn in an attempt to contain the fire. We did this for about 7 hours.

Got home at 10am yesterday, slept until 6, had dinner, went back to bed!

BA Bakes · 03-01-2006, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_au

Speaking of which, who here is a volunteer in the RFS/CFA/CFS or SES?

I'm a firefighter with one of the Hornsby brigades, and I know that Young'an is in one in my district too.

My brigade was on standby for most of Sunday too, we were not initially responded to Gosford too because we need to keep some resources in our area on the home front - my brigade's district is Ku-Ring-Gai, which includes the Lane Cove and Gurigal valleys.

Anyway, we were still on standby for the southerly gust coming through at 9pm, Sydney Airport were recording wind gusts of up to 116km an hour, the leading edge of the change hit the Gosford fires, causing a fire storm and we were sent up there under lights and siren at about 9:15pm for property protection.

When we arrived we were immediately tasked with property protection of the fire control centre, the fire was heading directly for it at this stage and it wasn't looking very nice, just a bright orange glow, ember attacks etc. Making matters worse was the fact that the control centre had been running helicopters during the day, and air support was still on scene with about 15 barrels of Avatur, as well as a number of parked cars. Luckily a last minute wind change pushed the fire in another direction.

We packed the truck up and were retasked to join a strike force and put in a back burn in an attempt to contain the fire. We did this for about 7 hours.

Got home at 10am yesterday, slept until 6, had dinner, went back to bed!

Sounds like you guys had a busy day too.

I've have been a volunteer in Wagga for almost 9 years now. Our day start at 5am with fire on Willans Hills (big hill in the centre of wagga). At that time it was 30c, very hot for that time of the morning.

We then had a fixed wing water bomb arrive mid morning and placed on standby, we loaded him up just in case.

Then around 1pm the s*** hit the fan!!! The Junee fire started. the first crew on the scene reported that it was running. I knew it was going to be bad, considering the wind speed and the temperature was about 45c by that time. We turned out two crews for the Junee fire, one responded from wagga in the truck and the other crew, including myself run the airbase for the two fixed wing aircraft at the airport in wagga. I got home around 9 that night, helped organise crews for the next day at Junee, got to be about midnight, then got a phone call at 3am. Another grass fire in our brigade area. Our grassland truck was over at Junee leaving our pumper to respond to the grass fire. We had truck come back from Junee to help out. We eventually got home at 9am for some sleep.

Some start to the new year!!

Valknutr · 03-01-2006, 05:09 PM

Im part of the austinmer RFS brigade, havent been to a fire yet we are a "special" unit who can get placed anywhere in NSW (or interstate) if need be. But this season has started with a bang, been 1 semi major fire that closed a few roads and thankfully has cost no lives. So far only 1 person has died he was a volunteer ambulance guy who was helping some people evacuate and had a heart attack.
But now im hoping a southerly comes up with some rains and cool the whole place down and breaks the drought.

Dave_au · 04-01-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valknutr

Im part of the austinmer RFS brigade, havent been to a fire yet we are a "special" unit who can get placed anywhere in NSW (or interstate) if need be.

I would have thought you guys would be villiage down there as well.

Sounds like your brigade mostly does stargs? Hornsby district has about 6 dedicated starg out of area trucks, one of them is our second cat 1.