The St. Albans Firebrigade Newsletter.


News from your Fire Brigade
 September 2002

 FIRE BRIGADE CHURCH SERVICE

A special service for our members will be held by Father Max on Sunday the 3rd November at 10 am at the St Albans Church. Rev Hayden McKellar, who is the assistant BFB Chaplain (and a fire fighter) at Gosford  will also be in attendance. All members are invited to attend in uniform.

 
OTHER NEWS.

Shed Extension has started: Excavation started last Saturday. You will see the extension in various stages of construction over the coming months. Luckily we have been blessed with generous offers of voluntary work for most of the extension. To these people and all others who have donated time and money for this project our sincere thanks.
Good Dirt for sale: Monies to go to our brigade. Contact Captain Greg Bailey on 4568 2186

Training : With the departure of Neil Falconer from the valley, Halifax Hayes has accepted the position of our Training Officer. As always Hal will be assisted by Peter Gibb, Evan Michaels, Ian Elton and other experienced members. Remember training days are every 2nd Saturday in the month.

Firies Endurance Ride, Sunday the 6th October: All interested riders please contact Don or Wendy McKillop (4568 2146) for details. Monies raised will be split between our brigade, the common and Community Hall.

 
BUSH FIRE SEASON HAS STARTED
 

The Bush Fire Danger period is with us early this year. From the 1/9/02 to 31/3/03 strict    regulations apply.

These include:

TOTAL FIRE BAN - No fire of any kind may be lit

BURING OFF IN THE OPEN
 A permit MUST BE OBTAINED, see either Captain, Greg Bailey (4568 2186) or Deputy Captain, Peter Gibb (4568 2020)
Neighbours must be notified at least 24 hours before lighting the fire
 Someone must attend the fire at all times
 Observe all the conditions of the permit
 
LIGHTING FIRES FOR COOKING ETC
A person must not light a fire in the open for cooking or any like purpose unless the fire is a site that is surrounded by ground that is clear of all combustible matter for a distance of at least 2  metres. It is always preferable to light the fire in a permanently constructed fireplace

SMOKING
 A person must not drop or throw any lighted tobacco product, match or anything burning
 A person must not light or carry a lit tobacco product within 15 metres of stacked or     standing crops, dry grass or stubble field.

If you have any questions please contact Greg Bailey or  Peter Gibb (phone numbers above).
 

Long Ago

 Years ago  in  St  Albans,  the  Volunteer  Bushfire  Brigade  was  not  the well-resourced,  functioning  unit  that  it  is  today.  That  is  not  to  say  that  it  didn’t operate  just  as  effectively,  or  that  the  volunteers  of  years  ago  were  not  as enthusiastic,  but  the  valley  has  undergone  many  changes  since  then  and  so  has the  brigade.
 Jack  Bailey  began  it  all  with  half  a  dozen  knapsacks  in  the  boot  of  his car.  Those  were  the  days  when  a  burn  might  have  got  started  from  the  back  of  a  horse  with  a  petrol-soaked  rag  trailed  behind  (and  a  VERY  quiet  horse I might  add). This  was  updated  to  a  44  gallon  drum  on  a  trailer,  but  there  was  sometimes  the  problem  of  finding  a  suitable  vehicle  to  tow  it!  A  further  upgrade  was  a  petrol-powered  Landrover,  which  suffered  from  evaporation  problems  in  hot  conditions.
This  resulted  from  it  having  to be  pushed  out  of  the  path  of  more  than  one   oncoming  fire.  There  must  have  been  the temptation  at  least  once  to  let  it  burn!
 One  burn-off  that  started  down  at  Killarney  that  had  made  its  way  up  to  the  Word  of  Life,  saw  the  Landy  stopped  just  short  of  a  house  threatened  by  fire.  The  volunteers  there  at  the  time  found  their  combined   weight  was  just  enough  to  stretch  the  hose  around  the corner   of  a  shed  to  keep  the offending  fire  at  bay.
 Most  people  did  their  own  burning.  It  was  not  contained  to  the  property  and  neighbours  often  co-operated.  Of course  there  were  not  as  many  houses  back  then. There  were  no  National  Parks  and  cattle  were  run  up  along  the  Womerah  Pathway,  on  what  was  then  Crown  Land.  This  and  timber-  getting  kept  the  scrub  down  and  volunteers  were  called  only  if  a  burn  threatened  houses  or  crops.  Burns  were  rarely  put  out,  farmers  relying  on  the  cool  of  the  evening  at  the  right  time  of  the  year  or  a  damp  gully  to  check  the  flames.
 When  a  fire  did  get  out  of  hand,  a  quick  call  around  on the telephone  exchange  brought  many  volunteers,  who  met  up  at   the  Settlers  Arms.  They  would  set  off  with  a  case  of  beer  and  if  it  was  especially  hot  they  might  have  the  odd  water-fight  on  the  way.  It  was  up  to  the  Captain  to  remind  them  that  they  just  might  need  that!
 No one  was  trained  to  the  extent  that  volunteers  are  now,  however  these  were  practical  people  well-versed  in  the  use  of  a  pump,  well  aware  of  the  dangers  of  fire  and  possessing  one  thing  that  hasn’t  changed  to  this  day;  the  willingness  to  give  someone  a  helping  hand  at  a  time  of  need.           Louky Gibb

Many thanks to Louky for researching and writing this article. Also thanks to those long time members who have shared some of their memories.




 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – FRIDAY 17TH MAY 2002

Our thanks to Karen Hodges, Suptintendant, Hawkesbury Rural Fire Service for your attendance and address to our AGM on Friday 17th May, 2002. Also our thanks to Gary Jones for his sterling job as returning officer and to Max Ryan for his assistance.

The members elected are as follows:

Field Officers
- Captain Greg Bailey
- Senior Deputy  Peter Gibb

Deputy Captain positions (Ranked in order of seniority by Captain Greg Bailey)
- Evan Michaels
- Ian Elton
- Neil Falconer
- Halifax Hayes
- Phil Hunt
- Ross Fraser

Administrative & Other Officers

- President  Graeme Shether
- Vice President Evan Michaels
- Secretary  Tom Watson
- Treasurer   Doug Shannon
- Executive Member Halifax Hayes
- Equipment Officer Gordon Dicken
- Assistant Equipment Chris O’Grady
  Officer
- Call Out Officer Joan Opbroek
- Assistant Callout  Bruce Wood & Liz Herdsman
   Officers
- Permit Officers Greg Bailey
   Peter Gibb

Administrative & Other Officers (continued)

- Training Officer Neil Falconer
- Assistant Training  Halifax Hayes
  Officer
- Catering Officer Liz Herdman
- Assistant Catering  Gail Barnes (assisted by David Barnes)
- First Aid Officer Peter Gibb
- Assistant First Aid  Joan Opbroek
   Officer

Again many thanks. Always good to see you all.

Regards,
Tom Watson
Secretary
St Albans Rural Fire Brigade
 
 

Februrary 2002.

Thanks go to all who have supported our brigade through their time, efforts and in many cases financial contributions.

News from your Fire Brigade.
 

Our Fire Fighters—The  Hero & Human Side

Entrapment is a word which is sure to conjure up feelings of apprehension even for trainee fire fighters who have recently been schooled in the correct survival procedures should they be faced with a flashover when on the fire ground.

For two St Albans Fire Fighters, Ian Elton and Henry Szwanenfeld, the word became a new reality when, during the recent inferno at Colo Heights, wildfire raced up a gully threatening to engulf them in the Striker.

With a rescued resident on the back, they raced the fire uphill towards the gate, only to have flames broach the hilltop from another direction which then encircled them before they could exit to the relative safety of the road.

Their Guardian Angels rode with them as they continued through the wall of flames to escape.

Such were the appalling conditions at Colo Heights, that after making their narrow escape, Ian & Henry were immediately redeployed to another location before they were personally able to arrange medical attention for their passenger who fortunately appeared to have escaped serious injury.

Ian & Henry, like many fire fighters who, faced with similar horrendous experiences during the fires, were back on the fire ground next day. But being heroic, as Ian and Henry were, has a human cost, that of having to relive their experience at Colo Heights as well as other past memories.

Our thanks and whole hearted support goes to Ian & Henry as well as all who contributed to fighting the fires.

The above article was submitted by Joan Opbroek and describes Ian & Henry’s close escape at Colo Heights and rescue of a resident during the 2001 Christmas fires. Many thanks for your article Joan.
 

AGM NOTICE

THE AGM WILL BE HELD ON FRIDAY THE 17TH MAY AT THE FIRE SHED, STARTING AT 7 PM.

All interested members please attend. Active Fire Fighters and Members can vote for their nominations for all Field Officer & Executive positions.

Fire Control Officers will attend and act as the Returning Officer.

Prior to the elections reports by the  Captain, President, Treasurer and      Secretary will be presented to all     members.

 CENTRELINK PAYMENT

Forms for this payment are available at the fire shed. For those who lost income because of their contribution of time, please contact myself (Tom Watson 4568 2269) or other members of our brigade to collect your forms. The forms must then be returned to the brigade to be collated and sent to Fire Control to sign off on times spent in fighting the fires (both in the shed and on the ground). To claim you must be a member of the brigade.

CUT OFF DATE TO CLAIM IS THE 8TH MAY 2002
 

 PHOTOs . We would like to  establish a library of any photos concerning the brigade. If you have any old photos of the brigade and members which you do not mind being published, please contact myself, Tom Watson on 02 4568 2269. I will copy them and return the originals. Thank you.

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