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Frank Dunstan Sunday, 29 March 2009 Grass Fire Units (GFU’s) in many Bushfires NT volunteer brigades are single operator due to the lack of volunteers; some brigades can provide a two person crew, but not many in the Darwin rural area. While this isn’t desirable for safety reasons it does have the advantage of speeding our response to call-outs for wildfires and other emergencies. GFU’s are mostly home garaged and this means that the operator can be mobile in no more time than it takes to put on a pair of boots and yellow trousers, the rest of the PPE being kept in the vehicle. There are smoke spotters at various locations in the Darwin rural area who report smoke over the Bushfires radio network. With this advantage we are often on scene before the fire has been reported. This also makes it hard for people who light fires on their properties without first getting a Permit to Burn. Our rapid response means that a lot of fires are nipped in the bud before they do much harm, the only real exceptions being dry windy days in the late dry season when even being on scene when the fire is started may not do much good. If we had to first go to a fire station to pick up a vehicle and wait for our second crew member to arrive we would undoubtedly attend considerably less small wildfires and a lot more major wildfires. Bushfires NT have a 2-up policy that requires a two person crew as an OH&S requirement. Find us the extra members willing to fight fires and we will work to it. Bushfires CRC research in Victoria and South Australia found that volunteering in rural areas is in decline and the average age of volunteer fire fighters is increasing. In the meantime, I will continue to attend fires the way I have always done and will safely handle the majority. |
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