WA bushfires: Volunteer firefighter battled 12 hours without food, water
WA bushfires: Volunteer firefighter battled 12 hours without food, water
09 February 2016
published by www.perthnow.com.au
Australia– AN angry volunteer firefighter has expressed her outrage at spending 12 hours on the fireground without receiving any food or water.
The local, who did not want to be named, confronted Incident Controller Murray Bawden at the Community Meeting held in the Australind evacuation centre.
She told to the meeting, that on Monday night after receiving no food or water on the fireground after 12 hours of intense heat and fire, her crew were called in for dinner, only to discover it was all gone.
We get hungry, we get tired, we are exhausted, she said.
You cant manage fatigue if you arent making sure people are fed and watered.
Mr Bawden said he had people doing their darndest to feed everyone fighting the fires.
Theyre looking for the fire trucks, at sometimes those relief crews and trucks dont connect, he said.
The welfare of firefighters is extremely important to me.
The hydration of firefighters and managing fatigue is number one.
Were endeavouring to solve this problem but it is a two-way street.
PerthNow understands several volunteer units went without food or water for shifts in excess of 10 hours.
A local firefighter told PerthNow fire trucks can only carry enough bottled water to last them an hour in the extreme heat of a bushfire.
There were several reports throughout the community of volunteers missing out on essentials.
One resident took to a local Facebook page to vent their frustration.
The lack of respect shown for our humble but heroic friends and neighbours during recent fires by hierarchy has been nothing short of shameless, the post said.
Income, sleep, stability, quality family time are all sacrificed in the blink of an eye in a bid to help others both known and unknown to them. of the bitterly disappointed faces we saw return to the shed late last night after being out fighting our battles for us.
Theyve seen others stay clean, collect meals and paychecks while they work tirelessly without reward or accolades but from those within our communities.
Somewhere along the line the chain is broken and I dread the outcome for those who allowed it to happen without a thought for the consequences it will have for us
These are some of the bitterly disappointed faces we saw return to the shed late last night after being out fighting our battles for us.
Theyve seen others stay clean, collect meals and paychecks while they work tirelessly without reward or accolades but from those within our communities.
The post had been shared nearly 100 times in just a few hours.
It is believed since the report the community page has been inundated with help from locals, with many people offering to make home cooked meals for the firefighters they call their heroes.
