I am a member of the NSW Rural Fire Service because it is a volunteer service. Volunteering makes me feel good about the work we do and the opportunity to give back to my community. We are proud to be volunteers. But there are limits!
Rural Fire Service members have been warned about crowdfunding for protective masks “without the appropriate authority” amid growing concern about resourcing levels of the state’s firefighting volunteers.
An interview with Vic Jurskis by by 2GB’s Jane Marwick on Thursday evening 12th December 2019.
Volunteer firefighters spending extended periods battling NSW bushfires say they are having to cough up significant sums of money for upgraded respirators, amid fears the disposable masks issued by the Rural Fire Service aren’t providing enough protection for the severity of exposure.
This post compares the performance of the Fair Air fire mask (Fair Air) against the requirements of AS/NZS 1716:2013 (the standard) for masks rated as P2. It also provides some detail regarding ISO 9151:1995(E) and ISO 15025:2000 which are international standards for fire resistance for protective clothing. The Fair Air fire mask is the only respirator to have passed,or could pass, these two standards (according to the experts at the CSIRO).
“You get a lot of volunteers… who say they don’t feel remuneration is appropriate because it would damage the volunteer ethos. But there are many others who say ‘I can only do this for so long’.”
“We need to really start thinking about out-of-pocket expenses at the very least.”
Claims that “green tape’’ worsened an already “difficult and dangerous’’ fire season will be investigated at a special inquiry that will probe the state’s bushfire hazard-reduction strategies, including land clearing and burn-offs.
The federal government has also bowed to pressure to investigate if the ongoing deadly fire season was fuelled by a failure to properly manage vegetation in national parks, forests and on private properties with temperatures expected to soar.
A forestry expert, Vic Jurskis has condemned bushfire prevention strategies in an open letter to the Prime Minister and premiers, saying it is entirely within their power to put an end to the situation by prescribed burning.
VFFA Vice President, Mr Williams says that the hazard-approval process is stuffing the whole process.
People are losing their lives, and we are experiencing unprecedented environmental, social and economic destruction as a result of bad politics. It is entirely within your power to put an end to this abhorrent situation. Instead, Australians are being told that fires are uncontrollable in extreme weather, and there’s nothing we can possibly do.
However, Aborigines arrived about 65,000 years ago and established the world’s most durable culture. They maintained healthy and safe landscapes across Australia through 40,000 years of sometimes extreme climate change. They didn’t need boots, overalls, hard hats, smoke goggles, fire engines, waterbombers, computers, incident controllers or emergency services.
A volunteer firefighter has received compensation for chronic PTSD in a settlement with the NSW government in what is believed to be the first of its kind.
The NSW RFS has a duty of care for all of its workers and the majority of those are volunteers.
Recent bushfire events have highlighted the level of reliance upon our volunteer firefighters, but the NSW government has been asleep at the wheel in these matters.