Whick's Call Outs in the CFA

 Whick the Firefighter

Here's a few stories and pics (just follow the links) of some
of the call outs I have attended so far....

From the previous page you have heard about my first ever
turn out, but my first official one was to an explosion
from a home made bomb, where a young man unfortunatly lost
his hand. We were called out to provide lighting and assist
in looking for parts of the hand to see if it could be rebuilt.
I also made the news footage of the incident, so I have a
tape of my ass is bright yellow overalls.

An rather interesting call was to a gas leak not far from where
I lived. Upon arriving at the scene we found a 4WD ute rolled
on its side, trapped between an embankment and a house, where it
had crushed a gas line for a spa heating system. I will have
a few pics of the ute and how it was removed here soon.

Callout, which I did not attend, came though on the
5/12/2000, while I was at work. Looking at the pager
message it gave the situation, a house fire, and the address.
Looking at the address I saw it was rather close to my best
friend's house (and best man at my wedding) who had not long
(3 weeks ago) had the pleasure of becoming a father to twin
girls. After a few messages and phone calls I discovered it was
actually his house, and the fire was in the nursery. Luckily
it was almost feeding time, so everyone got out of the house
real quick, and no one was hurt. The MFB were first on scene,
and got things under control pretty quick. Thanks guys. The
CFA crew from my station were not far off, thank you guys too.
Main thing is everyone is OK, and only a few material things
were lost. Watch a news report from the situation soon.

First callout with flames leaping, and my "Baptism of Fire" was a
house fire on the 7/12/00. It was going nicely, and
we had been told it was unoccupied by the person that called
it in, but who ever wasn't living there certainly had a nice
gardening setup in the three bedrooms, growing weed, and just
a little to much to be for personal use. We got called back at

9am to give the investigators a hand, telling them what was
where when we arrived, what we moved, and what we saw.
Someone ain't gonna be coming forward to claim their house
insurance.....

New Years Eve was kinda quiet with 2 fires, one caused by
fireworks, sorry, the dog can get out now, no more fence... the
second was a delibratly lit fire about 600m from the fire
station in the entry to a horse paddock. Some of the members on
they way back from the 1st call saw a man running from the
paddock, and a couple of minutes later we were called out to put
out a fire in the paddock. I bet the police had an interesting
chat to the fellow, considering he was sitting in a near by front
yard watching the incident.

8th Jan, callout to a fire at a local primary school. On the way
to the school we passed a police car with about 5 kids seated
in front of it, a backpack emptied on the footpath in front
of them, with a fair number of match boxes. We got to the
school, and found approx. 15 boxes of matches all over the
netball court, and a small window box that had been dug out,
and a heap of matches placed in it an set alight. It self
extinguished before we arrived. Some lucky guy got the whole
incident on video before we arrived.....these kids are stuffed...

24 Feb Call out to grass fire in a small area of grass
and scrub between a mental health facility and residental houses.
The first truck on scene got the fire under control and doused
the flames. The truck I was on arrived a few minutes later, and
assisted in mopping up, wetting down hot spots, turning over the
ashes and earth to make sure it was out properly and emptying
1200 litres of water onto the area. Looked like someone set
it going on purpose, but I'm no expert, so I can't be certain
of that. Well, gotta go wash my gear....

9 March Call to a grass and scrub fire in another patch
of scrub and dry grass, near the boarder of an area cleared for
a new estate. Made the tanker, first truck to roll. When we
arrived it was going pretty well. We ran 2 lines of 38mm from
the tanker and attacked from the flanks, working towards the
center. Only took a few mintues to get the situtation under
control, but 2 hours to totally extinguish and mop up. Covered
the whole area in Class A foam to make sure it would not flare
up again. Someone said that they saw kids running from the
scene before we arrived. Gotta wash my overalls this time, all
nice and black.

12 March Car Fire. This was my 49th Turnout. Got to the
scene, one of the Lt. had gone direct, and found a car half in
the garage, filling the area with smoke. 2 Guys went in with BA
while we set up a hydrant feed to the pumper. Got it out pretty
quick. While looking under the hood, trying to figure out how
it all happened we found that the carby was missing. So the
driver had tried to start the car, throwing petrol into the
engine cavity, and since the starter motor was attatched still
the spark plugs fired....... you get the idea. Not much left of
the plastic parts of the engine, or the wiring, just hope it
was insured for fire damage.

12 March 50th Turnout. Still in the trucks heading back
from the last call when one of the guys commented that it was the
first call of the day and there would be two more, as you always
get calls in threes and we had been getting calls in runs of three
recently. Just as he said this the pagers activated and we were
away again, this time to a Grass and Scrub in a backyard. Once
we go there, it was the same old story, someone burning off without
a permit, and the neighbours had called 000 to get it put out.
Lt. told the occupier of the house to put it out, and we went home.
Side note, actually ended up with 4 calls for the day, made it to three.

22 March After the heavy rains we had a call to a flooding
house. Looking at the location on the pager message it seemed
that a local creek may have burst its banks. Once we got closer
to the scene we noticed a 40ft high water fountain.
Someone had run in a fire hydrant, bursting the cap off it and
then driven off. The house directly behind where the hydrant was
located was flooding. Water was seeping in all over the house,
but the worst point was a room below the front balcony. It was
partially below the ground and closest to the hydrant location.
By the time the water was shut off the room was 2 - 3ft under
water. Using hard suction from the tanker most of the water was
pumped out. The local SES came to help out as well and after 2
hours of mopping up, and getting very wet we headed home.

7 May A nice going structure fire on arrival. Had very thick
fog on the way in and did not spot the fire until we were about 50m
away from it. After 7 hours on the job got to head into work. Took
about an hour/hour and a half to get the building out, 20mins to get it
under control in the first place and the rest was mopping up, making
sure it was out, and helping the fire investigators.
Not long after we arrived the was a large bang from inside the building,
seems a fire extinguisher got a bit hot, water inside it boiled and
blew the top of it off, looked rather impressive after everything was out.
FIU guys were nice enough to give us the extinguisher as a present after
they were finished with it. Managed to save 2 rooms of the building, the
main save being the computer systems in the office. Not sure how well
they held up, but the HDs should still work.....hopefully.....
Seems in the end we saved all the records, and that was the only thing
the doctor was worried about, so good job us. :)

2 June 100th Response to pager. After a 000 hang up (same as 911) and a
false alarm to a shopping center already the day before this call to a mental
health facility proved to be another. One of the nurses burnt the toast.
We had another call to an aged care facility at 0800, this time one of the
residents had cremated their toast.......needless to say did not feel like
toast that morning.

11 June Nice car fire, '79 VB Commodore on a nature strip got set
alight some how. Not a good call, firstly I grabbed the wrong hose for the
hydrant run, then I couldn't get the hydrant to open, or the cover off. Have
to do some more work by the looks of things, strange thing is I have done
this in the past and had no problems. Inside of the car got nicely cooked.
At least we know it wasn't an insurance job, it was uninsured.....

15 July The dangers of electric blankets. Just a tip if you like to
sleep with yours on, DON'T. The couple at this house found out the hard way
that leaving the blanket on is bad for your bed, bedroom, house in general
and if they had not been quick at getting out of the house, themselves as
well. Contained the fire damage to one room, and got the smoke out pretty
quick. 6 BA op's went in first up to check the place, we saved the pet
budgie. Good work by one of the girls as well. If ya do leave your
blanket on, make sure your smoke alarm works.

31 July Just about to get settled and watch Raw is War WWF on cable
here in Oz and off goes the pager. 2nd person to the station so I made the
first truck. On route I was told I was to be one of the BA operators for the
call, which was a bedroom fire. On arrival me and my partner donned the BA
gear while a hose was run to the bedroom window, to assist the neighbour
that was using his garden hose. He did a good job in keeping the fire under
control, pretty much saved the room, if not the house. Went into the house
and checked the room first, then took in the line and attacked the fire, which
was in the bed, from the inside, while the place was vented. Everything was
pretty much out when we entered the room, but we stayed there hosing down the
bed, I was the branch man, until the house was vented and the bed was removed.
Only a little cosmetic damage to the house, but someone was sleeping on the
couch that night. One of the girls did a great job in calming the occupants
of the house again, well done girl.

5 October Sleepin away nicely in bed and get the first call in 2 weeks,
been real quiet, not even any false alarms. Car fire at a vacant lot used as a
car park near the train station. Made the first truck, and when we arrived the
car was well alight. Was backup on the live reel. Took about 10 mins to
control, and another 10 to put out after we popped the bonnet *with a crow bar*
and got into the boot(trunk). *in the same way* One odd things was a fence
pailing under the hood, even though the hood was closed. After putting it out
the police took the car's details *interior = black, color = black & white,
uphosltry = gone* j/k Engine number and body number, then we filled the gas
tank with water and went back to the station. 3 more calls after this one, in
8 hours, 1 more car fire, not as impressive as the one above, a residential
smoke alarm call to a health care place and a fuse box fire at a house....

Still more calls, a house fire call during our annual dinner, so another
brigade looked after that one, apparently a washing machine had cauaght fire
sometime during the day, but the fire burnt through the hoses so the fire was
put out, but the house got flooded. No one was home when it happened, so there
was a lot of water. Another one after the dinner, dumpster fire, and I woulda
been there, but I forgot to turn my pager off silent mode before I went to bed
so I slept through it. Sunday afternoon there was a backup call to a smoke
alarm operating at a house, got most of the way there in the second truck before
we were told that there was not enough hamburgers cooking at the house for us
all. So from Friday morning until Sunday night we had a total of 7 calls, made
5, 3 on the first truck, 2 on the second.

11 October Undefined structure fire call, in the same block as two
previous dumpster fires and a car fire. Turned out to be another car behind
a row of shops, this time a new car. MFB was already on scene as we arrived,
starting to put water on the car through a cyclone gate. Went to the truck
and grabbed the bolt cutters and cut the chain on the gate to allow access
to the car for the guys with the branch. Just got the taste of the last car
fire out of my mouth as well....

28 October 150th response, a bin fire, that by the time I got there on
the tanker (2nd truck to roll) it had been put out. Another page came through
on the way back to the station, for a oil spill on a corner I had gone through
on the way to the station for the previous call. I had noticed the oil on the
way, but not the quantity. Went up the hill from the spill to slow traffic
(for about an hour) with one of the girls until the local council arrived
with some sand for the spill. Some car no longer has a sump plug, as it
was found sitting on the road. Rained for a little, but not much.
With one of the girls there to talk to time passed pretty quick.

1 November Call to an extinguished kitchen fire. Residents needed a
fire report to make an insurance claim. They were lucky. A pot on the stove
caught fire and started scorching the wall. The owner then covered the pot with
a blanket. (Good thing) Unfortunatly it was a nylon blanket, which also caught
fire. So the blanket was removed, then the owner picked up the pot, which was
rather hot (Bad thing) and threw it across the room. This caused marks on the
wooden floor and passage wall, and also started a small fire in a kitchen
cupboard. The pot was then picked up and thown outside, as was the blanket and
an item from the cupboard. Over all 3 scorched walls, 1 scorched floor, 1 burnt
blanket, 1 burnt pot, 1 burnt plastic basket & an owner with nasty surface burns
on both arms. Very lucky.....

13 November Another car fire, this time in MFB area, we were the second
truck on scene, and they had things under control so most of the crew stayed
in the truck. Nothing suspicious, just a tip, remember to check the oil and
water in your car occasionally, or ya will cook your engine, literally.

17 November Wheelie bin fire calls, about 1km apart on the same
road. Was on the branch putting out the first one, when the second one came in,
spotted by our Captain on the way to the station for the first call. Got in the
truck and put the second one out too. Watch wheelie bins when ya first put
water on them, as the flames leap for a few seconds..........glad I wasn't
standing too close....

27 December First fire call as OIC (Officer in Charge). Made a bit
of a mess of things at the start, but sorted it all out in the end, was a smoke
sighting from a house in our area to an area about 10km away.
Sent one truck to investigate but nothing was showing. Had a few of the senior
members support me on the call, thanks guys.

29 December Notification that I am actually going on a strike team
interstate to fight the bushfires in NSW. First time for everything. :)
Going to be up there for 3 days/shifts, doing 12 hour shifts. Nice way to
spend New Years Eve, but then again I didn't have anything else planned.
Click here to read more.

16 January Had a page come across for another call about 3 mins before
this one, which was for a grass and scrub fire, then this page came across,
for the same location, so the call was made out as a church fire, which was
what the second page came across as. As we arrived it looked as if the whole
back end of the church was fully ablaze, but as we neared the rear we found it
was a large wooden shed, fully involved. After a great firefight and the
Fire Investigation unit coming out we got in station at about 6am.

17 January Just gotten to sleep after a support call at 00:16 and the
pager goes off again, this time a tree fire in our area. This call took about
20mins to get the tree all out, with me on the branch (hose, not tree). We had
just refilled the truck when we got another call for a tree fire in our support
area, not primary area. We arrived just as the primary brigade had knocked
the fire down. Quick call, only a small tree. So in the matter of 2 hours
we had three tree/grass fires.....wonder who is playing with matches....

17 January Stormy night, and had aquired a stray dog for the night, when
this page came through. Was slow turning out since I was watching the new
addition to the house and had to make sure none of our animals got jealous.
Page came through as Community Centre on fire. Someone had lit the decking
in the back of the centre. Brigade made the save, stopped the fire from
entering the building, although a fair bit of smoke got in. Was on the PPV fan
to clear the smoke from the building.

7 February BAYS4 STRUC1 PUMPER REQUIRED
This is what the pager read. This meant that our pumper was required at a fire
in Bayswaters' area, which is about 15km away. We were the 8th pumper called
to the job, which was a factory fire. In the end there we 10 pumpers and
approximatly 10-15 other vehicles there for the better part of 3 hours. We were
called about an hour into the fire, and although our pumper was released at
approx. 04:30 three of the crew, including myself, stayed until 08:30.
Worked inside the factory for a about 2 hours in BA trying to get into
hotspots that the ariel appliances couldn't reach.
According to the paper there was over $2 million in damage. (Copies of
articles to be linked here soon)

19 February
Support call to Lilydale for a structure fire. On arrival it was going well in
the roof. Went in wearing BA and conducted a search of the house with my
partner, then got to a structually sound area and got a hose line. Stayed
there with my partner as the roof fell in around us. We contained what we
could when it hit the floor. Then we moved outside, I footed the ladder
while my partner climbed and fought the fire from above. First fire where
I have been in the situation of strucural collapse so close. Glad we are
trained on where to work from in that instance, or I could had a real headache.

13 March
200th call I have been to, and this one was false alarm at the local shopping
center. Sprinkler system must have had a surge through the mains that let
some water out of the system, therefore setting off the alarms.

22 March
Call to the local Coles for sprinkler system operating. Got there and there
was a fire in some rubbish outside their loading dock. Ended up standing
directly under the water from the sprinkler and hauling the rubbish apart
with a ceiling hook. Great fun :) This was the 2nd of 4 calls for the day.

29 May
Sitting back watching Angel when a page came across for a house fire about
10 houses away from mine, further up the street. I went direct to the location
in my car, and sat it out the front with the hazards on, so they truck could see
where to go when they arrived. Got to the door and scared the occupants, due
to the fact I was there in under a minute from receiving the phone call. It
turned out that the fire was caused by an iron, and only damaged the iron, and
one of the occupant's arms, who was using the iron at the time. After making
sure the injured party placed their burn under running water and that the fire
was out at the source, I made a check of the wall to see if it had cause a
cavity fire when the iron shorted. It was all clear, so I headed out to meet
the first truck and fill them in on the situation. Always good to be able to
help someone. :)

2 June
Wake up call early Sunday morning. Reported car fire. Arrive on scene in the
first truck and the first thing we notice is that there are 2 cars on fire.
It seems a short in the first car's electrics set the car alight, and since it
was parked so close, nose to tail, with the other car, it also caught fire.
Was a great attack on the fire, with tyres exploding and a small fuel leak from
one of the cars making things interesting. We finished up the job and got
the truck back in working order (new hose etc) by 07:30. Just in time to study
of the Occupational Stress exam we had scheduled for 09:00 that morning.

7 June
Three separate pages were put across for this car accident. First two gave
the information of a car fire, the third (which I didn't get to read..will
explain soon) was for Possible Persons Trapped. This page also activates the
local State Emergency Service rescue unit. I arrived on scene first, as the
accident was between my house and the fire station. People were stopping
traffic well before the incident, which was good to see. I arrived to find a
Jaguar on fire, all occupants out, and a Commodore with a man inside. As I got
to the car with the man inside, after making sure the Jag was empty and the
Commodore was safe, he managed to get himself from the front seat where he
had been trapped by the foot, into the back seat. At this time I heard the
first truck on it's way up the road. I made sure the man was in a stable
condition then went to the nearest hydrant point to let the driver know where
to park when he arrived. Once the brigade arrived we put the Jag out, gave
first aid to the man that had been trapped and contained the scene it was
pretty much done. The poilce arrived, as did the ambulances and SES. The SES
were released as the man was out of the car, and once the police had finished
with evidence photos we cleaned up the area with the tow truck drivers and
laid down some oil soaking material. In all 5 cars were involved in the
incident, 3 with damage from contact and 2 that were near misses with some
fluid or scrathes from debris. 3 hour job that could have been a lot worse.

2 October On the way back from a support job where some delightful
youths had set a playground shade cloth on fire when we were paged to cover
the brigade we were supporting into a third brigades area since the appliances
from the first brigade were still on the job. A nice run to Mt Evelyn to a
kitchen fire. Interesting control of the fire communications on this job. We
were released and our salvage was asked for, as it carries a PPV fan (possitive
pressure ventilation), to clear out the smoke. After they got back in
station it was revealed that the fire had started because the occupant had
found his paint thinner had coagulated in it's tin and they had put it in the
oven to thin it out...........obiously that litle red diamond with the flame in
it and the workd "Flammable Liquid" didn't mean much.

23 November 300th Turnout, false alarm called in from a public phone
booth. Nothing major to talk about, didn't find the caller at the phone booth
when we got there.

2 December On the way to the folks for dinner and the pager goes off.
BBQ Gas bottle on fire. On the way to the station and the page comes through
twice more. This usually means that it is prett bad, or someone at dispatch
stuffed up. On arrival we found out that it was the latter option. We were
there for an hour containing the gas bottle flame, getting to the supply
to turn it off, and then calling in a specialist unit from a neighbouring
brigade to flare off the remaining gas in the cylider. All this is 25-30
degree heat.

1 March Just leaving a false alarm at the local shopping center when
we got another job. A call to a house fire. After the intial address being
incorrect and a few fast course changes & map reading, we reached the address.
There was a house on fire, or at least the frame of a house, just around the
area where the toilet was going to be installed. Not much of interest here,
but I found it a bit amusing.

2 March First attendance to a fatality. Car accident on Manchester Rd.

18 April Code 3 call to assist local SES with a flooded house. On the
way to the call we spotted a 50m gusher of water. It ended up being a burst
main, which was a direct feed from one of the main water supply dams into
Melbourne. An hour and a half, 15 million litres of water, 3 trucks worth of
wet firefighters, 3 units of wet SES vols and 2 backhoe trenches later, plus
a few sandbags, we managed to control the water flow mostly around houses in
the area. News stories below....

Homes flooded after vandalism
18 April 2003

MORE than 15 houses in Melbourne's outer east were water damaged today after
vandals smashed a valve from one of the city's main water arteries.

Police said vandals deliberately crashed a car through a cage protecting an
above-ground valve at Pipeline Reserve, Mooroolbark, about 2am (AEDT), sending
a 50 metre gusher into the air.

The high-pressure flow continued for more than seven hours, flooding two houses
in Blaxland Court and damaging the gardens and garages of up to 15 more in
neighbouring streets.

Melbourne Water said about 15 million litres of water - 1.5 per cent of the
city's daily supply - was wasted.

A man in his late teens was being questioned over the incident late today.

Melbourne Water civil assets manager Rod Clifford said the ruptured pipeline
served "hundreds of thousands" of homes in the city's north and east.

He said the flow was not shut off until after 9am, once a continued supply to
the entire city had been assured through other pipes.

"Obviously in time of drought it's a very significant amount of water to lose,"
he said.

But Mr Clifford said the water loss would not noticeably reduce Melbourne's
dwindling water storage levels, which currently sit at 42.3 per cent.

State Emergency Service team leader Jason Ellis said one house was rendered
uninhabitable as water flooded through walls and two doors.

"They probably had a couple of inches of water at various times," he said.

"It had gone into the vents under the floor, was amongst the walls, under the
carpet...we had to sandbag around the house in relevant spots to stop the flow."

Mr Clifford said the damaged pipe would be back in operation tomorrow.

Burst water main damages homes in Melbourne's outer-east

A burst water main which has been gushing for about 11 hours has damaged homes
in Mooroolbark in Melbourne's outer-east.

Emergency crews have been trying to fix the main, after a car is thought to
have dislodged an attached water valve around 2:00 this morning.

Police say houses in Blackburn Road, Henty Court and Blaxland Court have been
damaged, with reports of water spouting from the ruptured pipeline up to 50
metres in the air.

Police are appealing for witnesses who might have seen a vehicle driving
erratically in the surrounding streets of Pipeline Reserve just before the
incident.

18 May 450th respoce to a call. 2 car MVA, moving car vs parked
car. Occupant of the moving car was not iunjured other than seatbelt bruses.
Without the seatbelt it would have been an ejection through the front window.
Did pump duties, hose duties, first aid support and general cleanup/washaway.

24 May Call to a child trapped in the ceiling of a local primary school.
Understandable, except for the fact it was a Saturday. Turns out the young lad
had climbed onto the school roof to retrieve a football and fallen through a
skylight. Upon our arrival he had already found a ladder inside the room
he had fallen into, and climbed back onto the roof with the help of one fo his
friends. We put up a ladder and the officer and myself went onto the roof
to check on his injuries. After a 3m fall he had seemed to have lost
conciousness and had injuries to the right side of his body, which appeared to
be the side he landed on. Ambumlance and SES soon arrived and after the ambos
putting a neck brace on him, myself and 3 SES volunteers and the ambo put him
on a back board, then into a Stokes litter and lowered him along a ladder that
was placed at about a 30 - 40 degree angle. All of this took just over an hour
and was a great job over all.

8 July Call to a tree on fire which became a second alarm structure fire
en route. Turned out to be the radio station I used to DJ at burning. A good
4 hour job, saved the adjoining building and part of the studio complex,
but the two main studios were lost. Put down to an electrical fault.

16 December First drive to a call. Drove the tanker code 3, still no
code one drives yet, but it will happen. Got called off en route, but was a
good drive none the less.

29 December First Code 1 (lights and bells) drive to a call, going grass
and scrub fire in a paddock near the corner of Fletcher Rd and Maroondah Hwy.
Driving the tanker and salvage at present, should be able to drive the pumper
soon.

1 January Second Code 1 drive to what ended up being a false alarm,
although there had been a small fire in the area, it was already extinguised
when we got there.

6 February Third Code 1 drive in the tanker, to support Montrose,
got called off en route.

7 February Call for a shed fire which was in the MFB area, and
was increased to a second alarm as we arrived, about 30 secs after the MFB
arrived. Was first BA team in for attack on the structure, the MFB already
had one exposure line out. Fought the fire from the main door of the garage,
which was actually an automotive repair business. Three hour job, with lots
of heat and bangs.

5 March Car Fire reported, and since I have not done the
familiarisation with the new pumper yet, I still can't drive it to calls, but
was pump operator when we arrived at the job. Officer drove and then ran the
job. Only used the high pressure reel, gotta love it, used hardly any water.
Cabin of the car was gone, but we saved the engine compartment (as far as I
know) and the back end of the vehicle, which included the LPG supply lines and
cylinder.

6 March 2 calls in 1 page at this one, called for a grass and scrub
fire behind a house in a reserve area and found a second fire. Drove the second
truck to the call, our new Pumper, Code 1. Police called in due to the
circumstances.

3 April Call to person trapped under train. Went to the station
as support as I have a broken bone in my hand, but was asked to drive one
of the units there code 1. Did so and stayed in the truck until we were
released about 30mins later. Person did not survive.

14 April Call for tanker to attend a fire in DSE park in Scorsby.
Just so happens friend from my brigade also works in this DSE park as a paid
FF. I didn't get to go as I was injured (broken hand), but was told it was
a good firefight. Go Big Red (Monkey).

19 June First drive to a call in the pumper with a full crew
as the first truck. Going shed with the MFB on scene when we arrived. Had
pump duty and relay pumped to the MFB for the firefight. Glad we didn't
need extra water because the nearest hydrant was at least 300m away. Good
job by all to save the shed. Kids and sparklers don't mix well with a stack
of fire wood.

16 September Call to an undefined structure fire, with multiple
calls and passer by drop in as well. Fire was in a disused and thankfully empty
(of fuel and people) service station/house. Looks like the place was being used by vagrants to live, huff and do creative artworks on the wall. Drove the
2nd truck from our station to the job and was sent in on the first BA team.
After initial fire attack, kicking in a door and knockdown, plus a primary
search, we extinguished the remaining hot spots and searched the ajoining work
area, which we accessed through what was a door on our side, but ended up being
walled up on the other with some wood. Axe made short work of that and we
finished the hot end of the job. Were there for about 4 hrs total, staying
back with the vehicle I drove with the lighting unit for the FIU team and police
to do their report on the fire. First hot job in a while.

8 October Call to support MFB to a house fire 2nd Alarm. As I was
BA in our last decent job, other guys were given the nod, I assisted in the
prep, hose feed, lighting, crowd control and general fireground safety and
assistance. Looked after the pump at one point and BA cleanup. Was a great job
done by all there. We worked well with the MFB and got a letter of appreciation
to the brigade for a job well done. MFB guys did a great job too, no residents
were hurt but the building was a loss.

13 January 2 car MVA call to intersection near the front of the
fire station. Arrive in the truck after parking at the station and changing
into the truck, watching the police and ambulance arrive. Seems one driver
turned in front of the other, whilst conversing on the mobile phone. The
only message I can give you outta this one is don't talk and drive. As a side
note, there were no major injuries other than the car, the second vehicle was
a 4WD with a bullbar, so not a lot of damage to that vehicle.

14 May 650th response. First ever call in 5 years to a cat stuck
in a tree!!!! Local RSPCA not able to get to the location so we went to get the
cat down. Had been injured by a dog. Cat came down on it's own but fell the
last few feet. I caught it in my jacket, but then in used it's claws and my
shoulder to escape. Owners later got it from under the house.

24 June Bed fire in a house not far from my parents place. Not
something that would normally be noteworthy overall, except for the cause of
the fire, a mixture of two styles of bedding that should not be mixed.
There was a water bed heating element with a normal matress. This is more
of a safety hint to do with heaters of any type, do not place objects on or
near heaters as they will cause combustion through radiated heat, hence why
old heaters were called radiators.

6 July It's amazing how a car can be burning, after being dumped,
from A pillar back, yet the headlights still work. Just an observation from a
car fire ~no, really, never woulda guessed~ that was in a park near where
I used to live. Good few hours of work from start to leaving the station
after restowing the truck. Was driver/pump man again :)