District 14 Operations Report

Fire Danger Period 2011 - 2012

Based on a recent round of consultation it has been decided that the most acceptable option is to introduce fire restrictions (Fire Danger Period – FDP) at 0100hrs on Monday 26 December for Wyndham, Melton, Hume and Whittlesea municipalities. I will then consider mid January for Banyule and Nillumbik. This date lines up with our neighbours (to be confirmed but looking likely) in the City of Greater Geelong, Moorabool, Macedon Ranges and other areas including Ballarat, Golden Plains and Hepburn. I also feel that even though we may get some rain this coming weekend, the drying cycle for our grasslands has certainly commenced and with a few days of strong hot weather the fuels will turn quite easily.

Safety

A number of 3.4D tankers have recently been retrofitted with the Tanker protection systems. This will soon extend to all CFA tankers, and the obvious local effect for us is that our three district spare tankers, which would normally be available throughout the FDP, will mostly be taken up with this program.

Operations

Crew leader briefings have been rolling out around the district as part of our pre season update. Please make sure you attend these briefings if you are a qualified crew leader or perform a role above this. Soon this presentation will be available to view via brigades online.

Exercise FUDO has been considered by the majority to be a success and there has been considerable positive feedback. I have sent out a feedback form via the Groups so please take the time to complete and return by Thursday 22 December

Last year I reminded personnel about situational awareness, particularly in relation to paddocks still wet even though the grass is drying out on top. To date we have had a number of incidents where appliances have gotten bogged as a result of incorrect assessment of the risk within paddocks. Please, crew leaders, make well informed decisions before driving on ground which may not support your firefighting appliance.

People News

Geoff McGill has returned from his six-month secondment with the IMT training project. Tony O’Day has been released – but still within the district – to finalise the FOIPS documents, while Jamie Hanson is with us to backfill and James Dullard has return from his ‘assistance to Fiskville’ stint

Our recently approved D14 structure chart is now available on Brigades Online

Pauline Richardson has been appointed as the Operations Administration Support Officer and will take up position in mid January, welcome to Pauline! Thanks a lot to Carly and currently Carmen who work in this demanding role

Finally, to all personnel and their families, please have a safe, happy and safe Christmas and new year!

This report is an accompaniment to the District 14 Operations video report. Search for ‘District 14 Operations Report’ in the video section of CFA Connect, on CFA TV in Youtube and on Facebook (search North West Metro).