Report by Almoner Christina Way - Trevor is going into hospital tomorrow to get a hernia fixed and Virginia is currently unwell.

Next week the numbers for the Pride of Work may be limited so book as early as possible.

Unley Council has instigated Age Friendly Business Awards, and there is opportunity for our club.

The next Bunnings BBQ is on Saturday 17 April.

Allocations for club sponsorship of participants in RYPEN and RYLA will now be made by District.

Rhonda Hoare was delighted to announce that the Unley City Council at a recent meeting had unanimously endorsed the proposal for a Musical Garden. Well done, New Generation! The location is yet to be finalised.

Guest Speaker: Haydn McComas - CFS in action

David Middleton introduced Haydn who is currently employed by Australian Border Force, has been a volunteer with the Hermitage Brigade for 8 years, lives at Banksia Park and has a son.

Haydn provided a snapshot of interstate fires he had attended as a CFS volunteer over the last three years, and the differences in equipment employed and attitudes in each jurisdiction. A video shown of fire-fighting included detail that 50% of bush fires are caused by lightning strikes and the remainder by accidents or deliberate actions. Eucalyptus is highly inflammable across the country!

The CFS in SA comprises 13,000 volunteers, 800 appliances, 438 stations, 9,500 average responses per annum and 108 paid staff. His encounters were as follows.

November 2018 deployment to Qld.   Qld has more natural disasters that any other State through cyclones, torrential rain and flooding...........they are not overly prone to bushfires (too wet and sticky). But this time it was different. In SA there are normally 200 -300 personnel equipped to leave quickly to help interstate when the need arises, as it did in this case. His SA contingent was deployed to Glasshouse Mountain. Cooperation between National Parks and Wildlife, MFS and CFS was impressive. Paperbark up there burns a treat as does green grass. SA uses canvas fire hoses to avoid melting as occurs with rubber hoses used there. SA new fire vehicles have shielding curtains and in-cab breathing apparatus to be used if over-run by fire, but they are yet to be similarly equipped in Qld. And there is no law requiring motorists to slow down to 25kph when passing emergency vehicles. In his further deployment to Stradbroke Island he was bemused to see people rushing to see the fire.

March 2019 deployment to Licola Fire, Vic    It was weird to be backburning pristine alpine countryside to create fire breaks. Victorian fire vehicles have reinforced roofs to protect from falling trees...but not in SA. Terminology differs - a damaged tree marked with a K indicates a need for it to be cut down (killed) whereas in SA a K marking is for koalas.

October - December 19 deployment to NSW    Teams from SA went to Armidale and Glen Innes. The fires there moved swiftly, fueled by the eucalypts and propelled by strong winds. Even through grassland  fire was moving at 50kph. Smoke was dense. Masks were provided but no air bottles. Clouds from the fire were 20kms high in some areas and caused havoc when they burst. by spreading embers 15-20kms in front of the fire. A further complication was that these clouds created lightening. Haydn coughed for 3 months after returning home and hopes that there is no long term detriment to his and his colleagues health.

And then came Kangaroo Island  One of the issues faced there was the inability to deploy units behind the fire on the western side of the island. Another was water. Haydn handled the 11,000 litre tanker that supplied the CFS trucks and farm fire units. Care was needed to avoid polluting farmers' dam water. A number of small fire-fighting aircraft with 3000 litre tanks were used to slow the fire's progress....these planes could refill their tanks within 4 minutes unlike larger water bombers which need to return to base to refill.

One of the biggest challenges for interstate volunteers is the lack of a synchronised radio network. Multiple phones and other communication devices were needed with heavy reliance on UHF,  in contrast to SA where the Government Radio Network works well.  Haydn remarked that there is insufficient investment in leadership learning. In 2020 he won a Winston Churchill Scholarship which he will pursue when Covid travel restrictions are lifted.

Haydn was thanked by applause for his illuminating talk on CFS firefighting interstate.

Spots

Patsy Beckett urged those attending The Cedars at 10am on Sunday to leave home early as traffic could be a problem.

Heather Kilsby would love a bumper attendance at Fridays coffee chat 10.30am.

Rhonda Hoare clarified that the target needed to be raised by our club, including through grants, donations and sponsorship, was of the order of $250k. The most expensive piece of equipment is the piano at $70k.

Finale