Quick response of Nambucca
Australia:
Quick Response ofNambucca Volunteers Saves House
26 March 2002
The rapid response of NSWRural Fire Service firefighters from Warrell Creek and Gumma saved a WarrellCreek home from being gutted by fire on Sunday.”By getting theirtrucks rolling so quickly they were able to contain the fire to only two roomsof the house,” said NSW Rural Fire Service Nambucca District Fire ControlOfficer, Supt. Phil Evans.”We received a Triple0 call at 15:28 on Sunday to a house fire at Warrell Creek. We immediatelyresponded crews from Warrell Creek, Gumma and the NSW Fire Brigade.” “The crew fromWarrell Creek were rolling within two minutes of the call and arrived on thescene only 7 minutes later to find that the rear of the house was fully involvedin fire and it was spreading fast. Initially firefighters were hampered in theirefforts as they were unable to remove the power fuses as fuse box was inside thefire area.. The Brigade requested extra tankers and NorthPower to cut the powerwhile they were also making initial attack using broken jets until power couldbe cut,” said Supt. Evans A second Warrell Creekunit and a unit from Gumma arrived on scene to set up water supply fromunderground tanks to the other fire vehicles.
“The RFS crews hadthe fire contained within 15 minutes and went into an ‘overhaul’ phase as therewas signs of smoke coming from the ceiling area possibly indicating that therewas still fire in the roof cavity itself. The Brigades remained on scene until18:20 carrying out salvage operations, but their firefighting effort was sosuccessful that only the 2 rear rooms were actually destroyed.”
“All other rooms weresmoke, heat and water affected, but the Brigades were pleased to see theresidents being able to pick up photos and personal affects and remove them fromthe fire area. The house was badly damaged but is quite repairable going on theinformation of the owner today,” said Supt. Evans “The members ofWarrell Creek had actually been involved in the Thank You ceremonies at CoffsHarbour for their efforts in the Christmas Bushfire that day and I believe it isa credit to the volunteers who had the forethought to leave some of theirmembers at home for just such emergencies. Certainly, the residents of the househave the majority of their home still standing for this very reason.”
“I also think itshows the level of professionalism now shown by the members of the RFS, when youconsider the response time and training has contributed to minimising the painand suffering of local residents. In this case I believe that the Brigades notonly got to the scene in a great time but acted professionally in minimising theprogression of fire into other parts of the premises. The community can be veryproud of the members of Warrell Creek and Gumma Rural Fire Brigades”
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