Fire and Rescue International Vol 3 No 3

Integrated fire, rescue, EMS and incident command technology

Contents 2

Comment

Competition 3 FRI Images

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Cover profile Davey completes its engine-driven range

News 7 The annual fire chief’s ball proves an eventful night 10

Preparing fire managers to effectively manage wildfires

12 South African manufactured airport crash tenders launched by Marcé 14

MultiChoice revamps Randburg Fire Station

16 Learning from history: fighting fire with fire - by Reinard Geldenhuys 18 The Emergency Care Institute of South Africa’s DISMERT course 20

New managing directors for Working on Fire

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SA steps up emergency readiness

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Children of Fire visits the UK

24 Mount Ontake rescue teams faced with toxic challenge 25

Volume 3 No 3

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Fire protection association Greater Overberg fire protection association

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SAEC Halloween Event Halloween themed family event

Marsh Fire Competition 2014 53 Corporate fire teams compete in the Marsh fire competition

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Annual trauma day challenge 2014 Annual trauma day challenge 2014

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African Rope Access Championships 2014 African Rope Access Championships 2014

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ECSSA conference ECSSA hosts conference at world heritage site

Heritage 61 Dalmatians What’s on?

62 Fire, disaster and rescue related events across the globe Poem 64 “Because”- by Robin Weinrich

Rubber duck averts maritime disaster

26 Climber has foot amputated after getting trapped between two rocks 27

Sand storm may have potential long lasting effects

28 The Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa conference 2014 29 International partnership for fire and emergency product 30

New generation veld igniter - by Rob Erasmus

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Firemen injured in bridge smash

32 Two new 8x8 Rosenbauer Panthers for King Shaka International Airport 34

Cameroon faces floods and cholera epidemic

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Obituary of Christo van Staden

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High rise fire fighting High rise fire fighting - by Colin Deiner

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Wildfires 41 Institutional arrangements and wildfires - by Malcolm Procter Emergency medical services 46 Dynamic Emergency Medical Services extends beyond reach Training 48 Victorian Emergency Training Centre, a benchmark in Australia for training excellence

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Comment Editor Lee Raath-Brownie lee@fireandrescue.co.za Cell 082 371 0190 Journalist Taryn Champion edit@fireandrescue.co.za Cell 071 641 3884

Lee Raath-Brownie

Cover profile Manufacturer and wholesale distributor of fire fighting and water related equipment in southern Africa, Safequip, has introduced its Davey Flood fighter and Poly pump, designed to pump most agricultural chemicals.

Design and layout Marc Raath marc@fireandrescue.co.za

FRI Images photographic competition A photograph of a massive store fire won one of our readers the competition this month.

See page 3 for details.

Finance Noddie Knibbs accounts@fireandrescue.co.za

CONGRATULATIONS!

Circulation Vicki Jacob subs@fireandrescue.co.za

News section Our news section leads with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in fire service activities by the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) and the Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa (FPASA). We also review the annual Fire Chief’s Ball, the launch of the Rhino airport crash tender

by Marcè, the revamping of the Randburg Fire Station and the Disaster Medical Response Training (DISMERT) course offered by University of Cape Town and the Emergency Care Institute.

Submit your high-resolution photograph featuring a rescue, emergency, incident or fire scene and win R2 000 cash!

Administration Mirriam Moroane

Obituary We honour a fallen hero. Christo van Staden was laid to rest in September 2014 in Montana, Tshwane. Rest in peace, Brother.

Contributions

High rise fire fighting The intricacies and challenges of high rise fire fighting forms the basis of Colin Deiner’s article wherein Deiner revisits previous incidents in order to highlight what worked and what could be improved. He discusses the challenges faced by the first due response teams and examines the various staging areas, water supply and incident command related to high rise fires.

Africa Colin Deiner Etienne du Toit Reinard Geldenhuys Malcolm Procter Rob Erasmus Peter Davies Robin Weinrich Publisher Lee Raath-Brownie FIRE AND RESCUE INTERNATIONAL Tel 011 452 3135/6 Fax 086 671 6920 Box 8299 Greenstone 1616 Subscriptions 12 editions per annum South Africa R285 per annum incl VAT Non-subscribers: R35 incl VAT per issue Southern Africa (airmail) R480 per annum

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Our digital footprint has grown to include regular newsletters and the digitised version of both our publications, Fire and Rescue International and Disaster Management Journal, is available to all our readers. Please contact us regarding magazine delivery problems so we can try and resolve the issues.

Advertising advertising@fireandrescue.co.za Cell 079 107 3967

Secretary Vicki Jacob pa@fireandrescue.co.za

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Fire and Rescue International (FRI) is proud to present the 27th edition of Fire and Rescue International (FRI). Another bumper edition, proudly serving those who serve! We trust you will enjoy reading and sharing this edition!

Wildfires Malcolm Procter reviews the institutional arrangements and wildfires and provides a practical platform for wildfire management.

Emergency medical service (EMS) We profile Dynamic Emergency Medical Services in the Eastern Cape and share its history, resources and past incidents with our readers.

Training Australia’s billion dollar, state-of-the-art training facility in Melbourne provides a range of emergency response and management learning environments. This purpose-built, contemporary ‘centre of excellence’ was visioned by the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board (MFESB) for the training and development of its operational workforce.

Fire protection association We profile the recently formed Greater Overberg Fire Protection Association and share its risk profile, area of expertise and resources with our readers.

Competition, events and conferences FRI attended several conferences and competitions and we review the Marsh Fire Competition, the Annual Trauma Day Challenge, African Rope Access Championships and the Emergency Care Society of South Africa (ECSSA) conference.

Heritage The rich heritage of the fire service includes the number one firehouse mascot, the Dalmatian. We look at the origin of the long-standing association between these agile dogs and the fire service.

International (airmail) R680 per annum

We invite you to share your viewpoint with our readers. Fire and Rescue International is your magazine. Read it, use it and share it!

Copyright All rights reserved

Lee Raath-Brownie Publisher

Volume 3 No. 3

Images

This month’s FRI images winner!

Congratulations to Gerhardt Nieuwoudt for his photograph ‘Enduring the heat’ taken with a Canon Powershot SX50, ISO-1 000, a shutter speed of 1/20th of a second and an aperture 3.5 F-stop.

Photo description: Taken at a massive store fire

Gerhardt Nieuwoudt wins this month’s prize money of R 2 000!

Well done!

Submit your rescue, fire or EMS photo and win R2 000!

Fire and Rescue International’s (FRI) monthly photographic competition is open to all its readers and offers you the opportunity of submitting your digital images of fires, fire fighters, disasters, emergencies and rescues.

The rules are simple: • •

•

•

•

• • •

All photographs submitted must be in jpeg format and not bigger than 4 megabytes.

Photographs must be in high resolution (minimum 1500 pixels on the longest edge @ 300dpi) for publishing purposes Allowed: cropping, curves, levels, colour saturation, contrast, brightness, sharpening but the faithful representation of a natural form, behaviour or phenomenon must be maintained.

Not allowed: cloning, merging/photo stitching, layering of two photos into one final frame, special effects digital filters.

Fire and Rescue International (FRI) reserves the right to publish (printed or digitally) submitted photographs with acknowledgement to the photographer.

Winners will be chosen on the merit of their photograph.

The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into afterwards.

Brief description should accompany photo.

Entries must include:

Name of photographer Contact details (not for publishing) Email: (not for publishing) Name of photograph Brief description of photograph including type of fire Camera, lens and settings used

All entries must be emailed to: lee@fireandrescue.co.za.

>>ENTER NOW! Volume 3 No. 3

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Cover profile

Davey completes its engine-driven range to pass through per minute. The hefty open impeller design delivers high flow rates while substantially reducing the chance of jamming caused by the occasional piece of debris. It is able to pass soft solids in suspension up to 32mm for the 76,2mm (3 inch) models and up to 50mm for the 101,6mm (4 inch) models. This easily transportable device allows for a fast response to floodwater and is self-priming to seven metres for convenience. Being corrosion resistant as aluminium construction provides a durable long lasting pump, the volute and impeller are additionally made from cast self-hardening aluminium for extra durability.

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Two inch Davey Poly Pump

anufacturer and wholesale distributor of fire fighting and water related equipment in southern Africa, Safequip, has now completed the range of engine driven pumps with the introduction of flood fighter pumps and a poly pump, designed to pump most agricultural chemicals.

Safequip’s product manager for Davey water products, Malcolm Corns, explains that with two new additional products, Davey’s engine-driven pump range has also been further enhanced having a positive effect overall.

The Floodfighter entails a fast access inspection hatch for easy internal checks for debris, along with three wing nuts allowing easy removal of the internal volute assembly for quick debris removal without the need to uncouple pipes. The Floodfighter is driven by powerful and reliable Honda petrol or Hatz diesel engines that comply with European Community and US environmental protection agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) emissions standards.

Engines are electric start with a recoil (hand) start back up. Honda petrol engines furthermore come with low oil shutoff protection and are mounted on a sturdy roll frame incorporating a four millimetre baseplate and rubber mounts to dampen engine vibrations.

Davey Poly Pump overview The Davey two inch or 50,8mm self-priming centrifugal Poly Pump is manufactured from 30 percent glass filled polyester, designed to pump most agricultural chemicals.

This pump is specifically designed to move aggressive chemicals, fertilisers and herbicides. As much as other

Davey Floodfighter and Jumbo Floodfighter overview The Floodfighter and Jumbo Floodfighter pumps are robust, self-priming, high-volume water mover pumps with a large open impeller design, ideal for moving waste, fouled and muddy liquids with soft solids in suspension.

“It is great for floodwater removal, mine and construction site dewatering, tanker filling and water transfer. It moves large volumes of water quickly and can empty a 60 000-litre pool in half an hour,” explains Corns.

Features of the Davey Jumbo Floodfighter The Davey Jumbo Floodfighter’s moves large amounts of water rapidly allowing roughly 2 200 litres of water 4

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Davey Firefighter five Series

Cover profile Davey pumps can also transfer these products, the Poly Pump is purpose built for the job and covers a wide variety of tasks, from farm effluent removal to large scale herbicide applications and fire fighting applications in almost any situation.

Davey Poly Pump features The Davey Poly Pump provides high flow rates of up to 800 litres per minute. Constructed of 30 percent glass filled polyester components and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) elastomers to offer a wide range of liquid compatibility five, this lightweight pump with an integrated carry handle makes it easily portable. It is self-priming from 6,6 metres for more versatile installation options. Powered by a Honda GX200 engine, which conforms to the tough environment requirement of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, the Davey Poly Pump offers a superb performance and reliability whilst being environmentally friendly.

Corns explains that the complete engine-driven petrol and diesel Davey range includes twin and single versions for high flow or high pressure and are kitted with various makes of petrol and diesel engines. These products can all be configured to power take-off (PTO) or hydraulic versions, with the shaft available in all standard sizes.

Hydraulic configurations are very popular in southern Africa because of their dependability and reliability.

While the initial investment is slightly more expensive than the petrol version, the hydraulic conversion is ultimately very cost-effective.

Jumbo Floodfighter pumps are ideal for moving waste, fouled and muddy liquids with soft solids in suspension

“The new developments from Davey reflect the manufacturer’s business culture of dependable, innovative water solutions, supported by the best service and advice,” concludes Corns.

Safequip’s range of skid units with Davey Pumps are still very well received in southern Africa and a large number of these units have been in operation for several years. The skid units are available in different sized tanks, which range between 300 litres to 700 litres.

The units are designed for fire fighting and are typically fitted on the back of a bakkie for use in veld and forest fire fighting but can also be used for a variety of different applications.

“These skid units play an essential role in forest management and are considered essential tools in forest fire fighting fleets. Accessibility is ‘key’ in fire prevention and having these mobile units’ available enables the fire fighter to reach the fire quicker.” explains Corns.

The Davey water pumps also differentiate Safequip’s skid units, as the pumps not only supply a steady high pressured water flow but can also draw water from almost any available source. This feature ensures a continued water supply and reduces refilling rates.

Together with the fire fighter range, the Jumbo Floodfighter and the Poly Pump are already available in southern Africa and can be purchased through any approved Davey Master Dealers throughout the continent.

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News

MOU to improve national fire loss statistics data The present system, although capable of indicating fire loss trends, does not provide a sufficient level of accuracy and certainty to underpin today’s risk-based approach to fire service provision, public education and risk management by business and insurers. The limited data presently collected may also impact adversely on statistical research projects.

David Poxon, general manager FPASA; Ané Bruwer, executive manager: legislation, policy and compliance management, NDMC, Department of Cooperative Governance; Ronnie Napier, chairman FPASA and Musiwalo Moses Khangale, senior manager: fire services coordination, NDMC Department of Cooperative Governance at the signing of the MOU on fire service activities

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he National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) and the Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa (FPASA) have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in fire service activities. The signing took place on 9 October 2014 at the premises of the association in Boksburg, Gauteng. The purpose of this MOU is to expand and continuously explore best strategies for co-operation in the following areas: • Collection of national fire statistics and fire service key performance data • Information sharing • Exchange of knowledge/technology • Fire risk and capacity assessments • Communication systems • Training • General cooperation on fire service matters Preamble The provision of Fire Brigade Services in South Africa is a government function in terms of the Constitution and requires that government works with its social partners to improve the general welfare of its citizens. The prevailing working relationship and cooperation between the NDMC and the FPASA together with the existing capacity and infrastructure of the FPASA in the historic collection of fire statistics from fire brigade services across the country facilitated the MOU. It 6

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also complies with a previous decision by the Fire Brigade Board for this to happen.

The cooperation in the collection of fire statistics will facilitate in the better understanding of the trends and patterns of fire occurrences in the country to enable effective intervention measures.

The task will form part of the FPASA’s National Fire Information Resource Initiative (NatFIRe).

The FPASA has since its inception been involved in the collection, analysis and dissemination of national fire loss statistics.

As a result, the FPASA, with the support of the NDMC, is implementing an improved fire loss statistics programme, which is aimed at measuring the range and accuracy of fire loss statistics and information while creating a database of information that can provide a meaningful input to fire research activities. The data collection fields will be expanded or altered as necessary to ensure relevance and continuity.

The availability of accurate and essential fire loss information will now become a reality.

The project will be guided by a methodology which includes the need for the project, raw data requirements, use and access to outputs data, resource availability, system reliability, security, confidentiality and protection of data.

The draft methodology is available on www.fpasa.co.za.

Back: Saritha Wolff and David Poxon, FPASA; Moses Khangale and Ane Bruwer, NDMC; Harry Sopper;, Ronnie Napier, chairman FPASA; Bevan Wolff and Johan van Deventer, FPASA Front: Pumeza Tyali, NDMC; Marcel Wood, FPASA director and Danie Buys,SA Insurance Association at the official signing of the fire services MOU

News

The Gert Stoltz ball saw guests from far and near resulting in a successful evening

The annual fire chief’s ball proves an eventful night

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he annual Gert Stoltz Trust ball was held on 8 November 2014, at the Barnyard Lodge conference centre near Ermelo, Mpumalanga. Themed ‘Phantom of the Opera’, the fundraiser saw guests from far and near dressed to the nines in black tie attire and elaborate ball gowns. Guests of honour, Gert and Suzette Stoltz entered the event under a battalion of men dressed in Scottish garments, while the skirl of bagpipes whistled, honouring the enigmatic retired fire chief and his wife.

the mission of the trust. “The trust supports fire fighters as a whole and is registered as a section 21 organisation driven by the flame of brotherhood,” Uys explained. The Gert Stoltz Trust was established to assist and support injured or disabled fire fighters, whose injuries or disabilities are not covered by their medical aid or the employer.

“I want to thank each and every

one for attending tonight. It shows that the brotherhood is still burning in you,” he concluded.

Dino Padayachee, South African Emergency Services Institute (SAESI) vice president spoke on behalf of SAESI president, Ofentse Masibi. “Being a fire fighter is a profession,” he started. With reference to the 9/11 attack where 345 fire fighters sadly lost their lives,

Elize Johnstone, event organiser and wife of Ermelo chief fire officer (CFO), Jaco Johnstone, set the tone beginning the evening with a prayer dedicated from fire fighter wives to their husbands. Stating that it’s difficult to not know if a loved one will return home each evening as a fire fighter, her speech brought tears to surrounding fire fighter wives.

CFO Johnstone concluded the introductory speech stating, “Behind every successful fireman is a successful wife who supports her husband”.

Rudolph Uys, chair of the Gert Stoltz Trust took the stage elaborating on

Fire fighters, their wives and families and sponsors attended the ball Volume 3 No. 3

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News he elaborated on the bravery of the profession, “You are expected to enter any environment with the sole objective to save, protect and put things back together as they were.” Paddayachee provided a brief history on Stoltz who received his 30 year service award in 2012. He ended off by thanking CFO Johnstone and the whole team who put the event together.

The rest of the evening saw laughter, great food and classical music, which

lead to Elize and Jaco Johnstone, Dino Paddayachee and his wife and Rudolph Uys and his wife making their way to the dance floor.

Items such as canvases, a variety of wines and goodie bags were sponsored by Skillcraft, SAESI, Toyota, Marcè, Superlift and Rosenbouer, among others, with the intention to raise further funds.

A raffle was also circulated at R50 per ticket to stand the chance to

The leather Ben Franklin helmet was won by 13-year old Mark Potgieter

win the leather Ben Franklin helmet, which was specifically made and donated to the Gert Stoltz Trust ball. The winner of the Ben Franklin helmet was announced as 13 year old Mark Potgieter who freely gave his prize to Stoltz.

With over 150 attendee’s ranging from fire fighters, their wives and families, sponsors and suppliers, the Gert Stoltz Trust ball was an exceptionally successful event.

Elize and Jaco Johnstone

Barnyard Lodge conference centre 8

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News

A guard of honour saluted Gert and Suzette Stoltz as they entered the venue

The evening saw laughter, great food and good music

Delighted guests at the Gert Stoltz Trust ball

Guests dressed to the nines in black tie attire and elaborate ball gowns

Firemen and firewomen at the Gert Stoltz Trust ball Volume 3 No. 3

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News

Preparing fire managers to effectively manage wildfires losses caused by unwanted fires.

Protect, prevent and suppress are the key concepts”.

What do veldfire managers do?

According to Pool, students are equipped with knowledge and managerial skills, which are especially suitable for a career in natural resource management, allowing them to specialise in veldfire management.

“Students will learn how to manage resources, vegetation and human activities in the natural environment in such a way that nature, human life and assets will be protected from fire and unwanted fires can be prevented and/or suppressed to curb fire impact and cost, “he said.

The veldfire management programme draws from various short learning programmes and modules from natural resource management programmes, forestry, conservation and even agriculture industries and is therefore specifically designed to address the needs of the southern Africa veldfire manager.

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Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University George Campus

he focused programme offerings in natural resource management at the George Campus of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) was bolstered with the introduction of a higher certificate programme in veldfires (wildfire) management at the beginning of the current 2014 academic year.

The veldfire management programme, which can be completed in one year if done on a full-time basis, or two years on a part-time basis, slots in perfectly with the other programme offerings within the school of natural

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resource management at NMMU George Campus. This school is one of four schools within NMMU’s Faculty of Science and involves both core and elective modules that will prepare fire managers throughout sub-Saharan Africa to effectively manage veldfires.

Tiaan Pool, academic programme coordinator for forestry and veldfire management at NMMU George Campus, said that the veldfire management programme, in short, is geared towards “empowering fire managers to deal with veldfires and the total fire environment to minimise

Pool highlighted some of the exit level outcomes of the programme, namely: • strategically and effectively assessing and managing the fire environment in order to protect infrastructure, human lives and the biophysical environment • using technology, engineering concepts and infrastructure effectively for veldfire management • Integrating relevant activities with existing fire management systems in a region • Demonstrating an understanding of applicable legislation relevant to wildfire management.

Students’ perspective Navashni Govender, a programme manager for fire ecology and biogeochemistry for South African National Parks (SANParks) and one of 14 part-time students who registered for veldfire management, summed up her involvement thus far by saying, “it is inspiring to be part of the first intake of students in this new programme.

News Very often fire is described as a ‘useful servant but a bad master’ and I see this programme as an opportunity to train the new generation of fire managers to use fire more effectively, safely and efficiently in managing our fire prone landscape in South Africa, thereby encouraging the use of good fires to prevent bad fires,” said Govender.

“I thought that I knew everything about fires that I need to know but this course is proof that I was totally wrong.

I never fully understood fires until this course started to open up this exciting science to me. My recommendation to everyone who wants to become a fire manager is to take this course.

This qualification is not about the cost involved to get yet another qualification but money and time spent to make a real difference” advised Ian Bezuidenhout of Fire Services Knysna.

Eric Fredericks, also from fire services, views this exciting qualification as being essential to the development of his career. “I am beginning to understand what a veldfire is really about. I cannot wait to learn more!” he enthused.

“The understanding of the dynamics involved in veldfire or any wildfire is crucial for any fire manager to make split-second decisions. It is not only the behaviour of fire that predicts the outcomes of a fire but also the understanding of all the laws and act that govern it. When you strike that match you are 100 percent committed and liable”, asserts Komatiland Forests’ Stiaan Marais.

This sentiment is echoed by Annalize van Wyk, fire risk officer from Komatiland Forests, who emphasised that, “the course underlines the importance of understanding the imperative role of a fire manager”.

Japie Hendricks of the Southern Cape Fire Protection Association (SCFPA) said, “the Higher Certificate in Veldfire Management (HCVM) takes you to the roots of veldfires and exposes the ‘bolts and nuts’ of being a veldfire manager. This is an excellent course and I strongly recommend it to every manager who is challenged with veldfire management”,

“Simply mind blowing!”. This is the verdict of Elvis Masoka, fire fighter for the Eden District Municipality in describing his experience of the captivating programme.

Nozipho Mkhize, a fire fighting instructor from Working on Fire (WoF) Mpumalanga, is equally upbeat about how the knowledge gleaned through this interesting programme will contribute to career success.

“I am already in a position to plan better and make better decisions when suppressing veldfires “she said.

Julanden van Wyk of WoF also expressed a sense of real appreciation of how the course equips even seasoned fire fighters with the knowledge and skills to appreciate what is necessary to prepare for extreme fires.

“This course has opened my eyes and showed the depths of fire management to me. I simply cannot see how organisations that deal with veldfires and the urban interface situation can improve if they don’t enrol for this course”, he concluded.

George Campus

NMMU George Campus added a specialised programme on Veldfire Management (one year full-time or two years part-time) to its already impressive list of programme offerings in Natural Resource Management, which will prepare fire managers throughout sub-Saharan Africa to effectively manage veldfires.

What do Veldfire Managers do?

Students will learn how to manage resources, vegetation and human activities in the natural environment in such a way that nature, human life and assets will be protected from fire; and unwanted fires can be prevented and/or suppressed to curb fire impact and cost. They will also gain an understanding of

legislation relevant to wildfire management, and master the effective use of technology, engineering concepts and infrastructure for veldfire management. This qualification will strengthen the competency of any natural resources manager as well as managers in the public sector who have to manage veldfires.

Programme & Qualification Mix Higher Certificates Information Technology Veldfire Management Diplomas Agricultural Management Forestry Game Ranch Management Management Marketing Nature Conservation Tourism Management Wood Technology Plus further study options for degree studies after completing a diploma programme

BCom Degrees BCom Accounting for Chartered Accountants BCom General (Accounting, Business Management or Economics) Postgraduate Certificate Education – PGCE FET (Accounting; Agricultural Management Practices; Agricultural Science; Business Studies; Economics; Mathematics; Mathematical Literacy) Minimum number of successful admissions required For an application form or more information: NMMU George Campus • Private Bag X6531, George, 6530 • Tel: 044 801 5111 • Fax: 044 801 5031 • E-mail: george-info@nmmu.ac.za

7959

National Higher Certificate: Veldfire Management

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News

South African manufactured airport crash tenders launched by Marcé

The South African designed and built Rhino airport crash tender launched by Marcé

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ire fighting apparatus manufacturer and equipment supplier, Marcé Fire Fighting Technology, launched its range of Rhino airport crash tenders at a ceremony held at Wonderboom Airport in Tshwane, South Africa.

The Rhino is the latest edition to the company’s extensive range of fire fighting and rescue vehicles, which are built at its Centurion headquarters. Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry;

Chief Clive Naidoo, fire and rescue manager at OR Tambo International Airport and various fire chiefs from airports across Africa attended the launch and demonstration of the locally manufactured Rhino.

Naidoo gave an overview of the Airports Company South Africa’s (ACSA) OR Tambo Fire and Rescue Service. Jan Steyn, commercial manager at Marcé, overviewed the technical specifications of the vehicles.

Specifications The Rhino chassis is fully assembled in the Marcé workshop in Centurion.

The aluminium body is of modular construction allowing for individual customer requirements and is available in 4×4, 6×6 or 8×8 configurations. It features a stainless steel crew-cab with a 180 degrees viewing angle, seating options for a driver and up to four crew and SCBA mountings. The roof and vertical walls are fully insulated with heat/ noise suppressing materials to ensure the noise level does not exceed 85 decibels during normal operating conditions.

A Deutz diesel engine is fitted as standard along with an Allison automatic transmission, a Cushman power divider and heavy duty independent suspension. The body features up to five fully illuminated stowage lockers each side and easy engine access. Fire engineering includes a Zeigler centrifugal pump with flow rate options between 4 000 to 10 000 litres per minute, an electronically controlled roof mounted monitor with a capacity up to 8 000 litres per minute and a bumper turret with a capacity of up to 3 000 litres per minute.

Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry cutting the ribbon 12

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The 4×4 can accommodate up to 7 000 litres of water plus 840 litres of

News foam, the 6×6 up to 13 000 litres of water plus 1 560 of foam and the 8×8 up to 18 000 litres of water plus 2 160 litres of foam.

Marcé manufactures its own water and foam tanks from glass reinforced plastic (GRP) composite. The Rhino features a

Marcé integrated electronic control system permitting seamless pump operation, a Marcé rapid starting kit keeping the engine temperature at an optimum level for an immediate response and an extensive list of options to meet individual customers specific requirements.

The Rhino range exceeds all current ICAO and NFPA standards. Testing was done at the Gerotek test facility in South Africa. Marcé Fire Fighting Technology was formed in 1998 and currently has branches in Polokwane, Stellenbosch, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and various agents in Africa.

The Rhino in 4x4 configuration

Marcé’s Jan and Danielle Steyn

Clive Naidoo and ACSA fire and rescue members

Guests from all over Africa attended the event

The Marcé team Volume 3 No. 3

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News

MultiChoice revamps Randburg Fire Station Group CEO, Imtiaz Patel embarked,” Revamping the fire station enabled a heartfelt commitment, to play a meaningful role in the community and was not just a project. We wanted to instil pride in fire fighters and residence.

I believe we have achieved this goal.”

All gathered around the plaque, which was revealed after Mayor Tau cut the ribbon, signifying the official opening and handover of the Randburg fire station.

Clr Sello Lemao, Ruby Mathang and Mpho Parks Tau

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xecutive Mayor of Johannesburg, Mpho Parks Tau, publicly announced the opening of the Randburg Fire Station on 31 October 2014. Honoured guests including government officials, police officers, community officials, community leaders, MultiChoice group management and staff attended the opening ceremony, which gave rise to a proud and ready-to-serve atmosphere.

In an effort to build offices, MultiChoice bought the land surrounding the Randburg Fire Station and as part of the agreement, revamped the station.

Not only does the revamp of the fire station fit in well with the corporate image of MultiChoice but it paves way for a better working and functioning environment for all at the fire station.

Now owned by MultiChoice, the station, which was under revamp for a period of eight months, will continue to be run as per norm by the fire department.

The opening ceremony included the national anthem, followed by fire fighters marching and conducting drill squad and brass helmet performances.

Member of mayoral committee for public safety in Johannesburg, Sello Lemao, said, “Not so long ago, Randburg was on what some termed as a ‘downward spiral’ but because of the city and the department’s vision, 14

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partnerships with stakeholders and a diligent work force, we are turning the tide and this facility here and what it surrounds. It is a bright red sign that should serve as a warning of the best that is yet to come to Randburg,” he concluded.

Mayor Tau thanked MultiChoice, public safety emergency medical service (EMS) and all stakeholders for their commitment shown. He ended off saying that the station would renew all stakeholders’ commitment to the community.

Prior to the station handover and unveiling of the plaque, MultiChoice

The refurbishment of the building is based upon a strategic goal, namely to increase the accessibility of the services to the community served. The facilities are an embodiment of the city’s commitment to building safe communities and therefore a safer city.

Added on facilities at the fire station that previously did not exist include disability facilities and state of the art gym equipment. The entire building, however, has been completely revamped, resulting in the station doubling its size.

According to community education officer, Chris Viviers, prior to the revamp the building was in a bad state. The Randburg Fire Station now incorporates a massive boardroom, refurbished modern offices, sweeping bathrooms with upstanding showers, a spacious Basic Emergency Safety and Fire Education (BESAFE) centre extending

Executive Mayor Mpho Parks Tau

News over two floors, a welcoming reception area and a massive wash bay that is in top-notch condition. The BESAFE centre will serve as an educational tool used by the Public Education, Information and Relations (PIER) team to inform community members about EMS safety programmes. In addition, it contains a fire safety unit which deals with code and a bylaw enforcement unit that will assist the community with the compliance of city emergency services bylaws.

The area’s risk profile, as described

by Johannesburg EMS spokesperson,

Robert Mulaudzi, constitutes mostly motor vehicle accidents with the majority of these occurring between Malibongwe and Beyers Naude Drive. The fire fighters often respond to robberies in malls, drowning’s, high rise buildings and residential fires, with the majority of these occurring during the winter season.

The Randburg Fire Station makes use of several vehicles, including a water tanker, a medical response vehicle, a grass unit, a swift water rescue vehicle and boat as well as a Bronto fire truck

for high-rise buildings. The station additionally has five ambulance vehicles, of which one is operational.

During the revamp, fire fighters moved to Rooseveld Park and Huntershill. This emergency facility will continue to respond to emergencies that may occur within a six-kilometre radius of Randburg. “What they gave us here is an improvement of what other stations will become” stated acting station commander, Alan Bright. “It is a big improvement to what is was since it was built in 1965”.

Deputy Director, Rapulane Monageng introduces the Randburg fire station opening

Randburg Fire Station fire fighters

Member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for public safety, Clr Sello Lemao inspects uniforms

Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi

Fire fighter conducts high angle rescue demonstration

Executive Mayor Tau cut the ribbon signifying the official opening and handover of the Randburg fire station Volume 3 No. 3

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Learning from history: fighting fire with fire Riviersonderend Fire

By Reinard Geldenhuys, chief fire officer, Overberg District Municipality on Fire and Volunteer Wildfire Services were deployed into the mountains and trying to contain the fire under very difficult terrain and wind conditions.

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Winston Churchill……

The bulk of the fire was now on the southern slope above the farm Ganzekraal. This farm is extremely well prepared for fire both in equipment and firebreaks.

The terrain necessitated the preparation of a tracer line and subsequent back burn

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n the last day of winter, a lovely windless, balmy Sunday afternoon, the fire season in the Overberg kicked off. A fire started high up in the Riviersonderend Mountains, situated in the Overberg District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa, beyond the reach of ground teams and posing no immediate threat to anyone.

Fire units were put on standby but no actions except monitoring the fire were taken. The fire burned slowly and without direction throughout the rest of Sunday and part of Monday.

Only towards the evening of Monday, 1 September 2014, the first day of Spring, did the fire start taking

direction and started moving down the southern slope of the mountain.

By Tuesday morning, a short (smaller) incident management team consisting of officers from Overberg Fire and Cape Nature personnel was mobilised to assume command of the incident.

What would have been fairly simple tactics in fire season became a logistical challenge with a helicopter and spotter aircraft eventually flown in from Sutterheim towards the evening to assist in fire suppression activities.

By Wednesday, the incident management team was expanded and up to sixty fire fighters from Working

The WoF teams hard at work 16

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Right in the path of our fire’s slow downslope march was a R14 000 000 plantation, well protected by indigenous forests with only two weak points where mountain fynbos extends down a ridge to the plantation.

One of the owners, Bernard Beyers, an extremely knowledgeable man, explained to us that there was a similar fire 20 years ago, also threatening the plantation with the same two exposures. The then Department of Forestry (Bosbou) prepared a tracer line across the two ridges from indigenous forest to indigenous forest, waited for the fire to come within fifty metres and did a back burn off the tracer line.

Looking at the terrain this tactics seem to make a lot of sense and the preparation of the one tracer belt of about three-metres wide made its

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News

The Emergency Care Institute of South Africa’s DISMERT course

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technicians, paramedics and canine search and rescue, amongst others, attended the course.

way onto the objectives for the next operational period.

On Friday, focus shifted to the northern slope with actions to shorten the lines.

On Saturday, we were joined by a Volunteer Wildfire Services with their work cut out for them leading the final assault on the eastern flank with the WoF team from Bredasdorp.

By the Sunday afternoon the last of the fires on the Southern slopes were extinguished and by Wednesday, 10 October 2014, fairly heavy rain on the mountain around Riviersonderend took care of the remaining fire on the high ridges of the mountain.

The western flank was now beginning to threaten the plantation again through the remaining fynbos ridge and the same tactics were followed building a tracer belt and burning it out.

Two weeks later, another two fires started near Barrydale due to lightning strikes, indicating that we might be in for an interesting 2014/15 fire season!

By Wednesday night, the tracer line on the eastern flank was prepared and with the fire now getting close teams remained on the line and lit it at 05h00 on Thursday morning, 4 September 2014.

Further actions by Beyers and his teams with more back burns in cooperation with the fire services saw the eastern threat to the plantation secured.

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director, disaster management and fire brigade services, Western Cape Government and Reinard Geldenhuys, chief fire officer, Overberg District Municipality.

he University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Emergency Care Institute of South Africa offered a Disaster Medical Response Training (DISMERT) short course during October 2014. The practical module included a reallife scenario and camp was set up at approximately 17h00, practise went through the night until approximately 10h00 the following morning. Doctors, technical rescue

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Fire and Rescue International spent an evening with the 20odd students, which haled from various countries and across many spheres of expertise. We were joined by Ken Terry, head of the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC); Colin Deiner, chief

The course was presented by Dr Wayne Smith, head of disaster medicine, Division of Emergency Medicine (UCT/ SUN). Dr Smith has over 20 years of emergency medicine experience, which include

News

Medical personnel are often called upon to respond across provincial and/or international borders to offer emergency assistance

The course included training in incident command

Line and hail search practised

Canine rescue joined in to create a real life scenario and also for the basic veterinary aspect of the course

Shoring being constructed

USAR technicians getting ready

Infield hospital was set up

Reinard Geldenhuys, Colin Deiner and Neville van Rensburg with Dr Amitabh Mitra Volume 3 No. 3

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New managing directors for Working on Fire

Llewellyn Pillay and Winston Smith

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outh Africa Department of Environmental Affairs’ (DEA) successful job creation initiative, Working on Fire (WoF), has recently announced its new managing and assistant managing director, Llewellen Pillay and Winston Smith. The appointments followed as part of the entity’s development strategy for succession planning and to enhance the effectiveness of the programme. They are currently undergoing an extensive six-month induction program to enhance their knowledge of the WoF programme.

the management of numerous major incidents. Neville van Rensburg was one of the instructors and Colin Deiner assisted with urban search and rescue (USAR) and Reinard Geldenhuys with the incident command system (ICS) aspect.

Medical personnel are often called upon to respond across provincial and/or international borders to offer emergency assistance. The recent earthquakes, tsunamis and other complex humanitarian emergencies are cases in point. Medical staff deployed to such incidents is faced with providing care in an often difficult or hostile environment. This course addressed some of the issues and skill that such a response may require. Topics covered included, amongst others: • Introduction to International Search and Rescue Advisory 20

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Managing director Llewellyn Pillay was appointed as managing director of Working on Fire as of 1 October 2014 and brings more than 18 years’ executive management experience to the organisation, growing and scaling both emerging and developed Pay-TV companies and a Government agency. Pillay joined Working on Fire from On Digital Media where he most recently served as deputy to the CEO as well as concurrently absorbing the role of SVP: operations and company secretary.

operations and technology during his 11 years with the company, including head of channel and broadcast operations. Pillay played a key role in the early development of DSTV, leading deployment initiatives in South Africa and other African operations.

Prior to this he was at South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) as the head of governance and policy, where his core responsibility was to institute a commercial perspective to all operational activity. During the latter part of his SARS career, Pillay was seconded to the Minister of Finance to evaluate, design and recommend business process improvements.

Smith hails from the scenic town of Stellenbosch where he graduated from the University of Stellenbosch with a BSc Honours in Wood Science.

Beginning his career at M-Net in 1994, Pillay held various positions in

Assistant managing director Winston Smith was appointed as assistant managing director as of 1 July 2014 and is well-known in forestry and sawmilling circle throughout South Africa.

He has more than 26 years’ experience in the private and public forestry sector. He has business exposure to plantation management, wood chip production and export, sawmilling as well as sales and marketing.

Both will be based in Nelspruit.

Group (INSARAG) • Medical practice in an urban search and rescue environment • Confined space and selected technical rescue topics • Introduction to basic field veterinary medicine • Introduction to basic field dentistry • Selected primary health care considerations • Discussion of incident command systems • Medical considerations of nuclear emergencies The course is one of the modules in the partial fulfilment of the MPhil in Emergency Medicine, offered by the Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Cape Town. One can enrol just for this course or take it further and have the full module (10 credits) accredited towards the MPhil (EM).

Various USAR equipment were demonstrated

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The roll out of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the incident command system (ICS), which became America’s national incident response system after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is being intensified, starting with advanced training of emergency services officers in the Western Cape during October. Training by US, Canada and South African ICS experts will soon be extended to other parts of the country and into southern Africa.

Developed in the US and already adopted by Australia, Canada and New Zealand, ICS is expected to form an important part of regulations being drawn up by the South African government to support a new national incident management system.

Funded by USAid and the US Forest Service, training is being undertaken

by US experts and FFA Training in collaboration with the South African ICS Working Team, which aims to institutionalise ICS throughout the country. FFA Training is part of the Kishugu Group, which is responsible for implementing the Department of Environmental Affairs’ communitybased Working on Fire programme.

guiding organisations at all levels of government and the private sector to prepare for, prevent, respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of the cause, size, location or complexity’.

ICS is based on four basic principles: • The system must be organisationally flexible to meet the needs of incidents of any size and kind • Organisations must be able to use the system on a daily basis for routine situations and major emergencies • ICS must facilitate a common management structure that integrates personnel from a variety of agencies and organisations from different locations and • The system must be cost effective “Imagine if all agencies responding to an emergency in South Africa were on exactly the same page,” explains Mike McPartland, deputy chief of the New York City Fire Department

Photo credit: Michelle Kleinhans

FFA Training describes ICS as ‘a systematic, proactive approach

Recent Cape Town incident management team training group

The Western Cape has been very proactive in adopting ICS

1st Division, who was part of the US group undertaking training in Cape Town. “Imagine if agencies from every town and province had a common understanding of how an incident should be managed and could seamlessly work together. That’s what we hope ICS will bring to South Africa.”

The ICS system started developing in the US in the 1970s after catastrophic fires in California. “Various response agencies had different management systems, terminologies and ways of communicating, and the lack of coordination and integration contributed to loss of life, homes and natural resources,” explains Tim Murphy, deputy fire operations specialist in the northern region of the US Forest Service, who has visited South Africa on 15 occasions to undertake ICS training.

“ICS developed as a result of demands from the public and the politicians that fire services should standardise their management systems.

Photo credit: Michelle Kleinhans

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he way in which South Africa responds to emergencies is changing fundamentally with the roll out of international bestpractice in dealing with crises ranging from natural and person caused disasters to incidents at public events.

Photo credit: Michelle Kleinhans

SA steps up emergency readiness

IC Type 3 training in Cape Town simulation time Volume 3 No. 3

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News

Children of Fire visits the UK assess the injury and work out what it is surgically-possible to restore or improve. The longer the passage of time since the child was injured, the harder it is to restore function (usability of an arm or a finger for example) and the appearance.

Every part of the body that is injured may require not just plastic surgery skills but orthopaedic skills, ophthalmology, prosthodontics and so much more. Because the children are largely indigent they may also have the diseases of poverty, malnutrition, tuberculosis and many other complications like loss of bone density and failure to thrive.

Lambeth fire fighters with Monopoly walkers 2014

‘C

hildren of Fire’ has been sending children overseas for complex surgery since its inception. Indeed, the idea of travelling to the ends of the earth for the children began even before the charity was formally registered.

”Sometimes the choice was made because there was a lack of surgical skill; sometimes it was made because there was a lack of compassion for indigent children.” adds Jones.

“Other emergency services began to adopt ICS over time. After US fire services called in Canadian, Australian and New Zealand fire services to help fight fires in the Western USA in 2000, these countries also began to adopt ICS.

the 3rd International Wildand Fire Conference in Sydney, Australia, which recommended the introduction of ICS as a global standard organisation system for fire management.

“Then came the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. This prompted President Bush to issue a proclamation directing all public, private and non-government organisations and agencies involved in emergency response to adopt ICS, which is now the national Incident response management system in the US.” ICS has been used to fight natural and man-made disasters in the US, such as Hurricane Sandy and the Gulf oil spill, as well as in the control of public events like the annual St Patrick’s Day parade in New York and the Olympics. “ICS is now embedded in the US,” says Murphy.

The SA ICS Working Team was formed in March 2004, following 22

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Therefore, Children of Fire’s process with a badly-burned child is to

Following South African requests for support in introducing ICS, the US viewed this country as a gateway for rolling out the system in Africa, with USAid providing funding for training from 2009 to 2014, which has now been extended to 2017.

Cooperation between the two countries has included a recent visit to the US by a South African incident management team, which ‘shadowed’ American counterparts attending to a wildfire incident and fire fighters attending leadership training.

Various levels of training have been undertaken in South Africa. Training of emergency services officers in the Western Cape over two weeks in October came at a particularly

Trip to the UK Five South African burned children recently visited the UK, four of them went to receive surgery. Feleng Mahamotse is just one of them. A skinny boy aged 12, he needs a new nose. In addition to airfares, visas, accommodation and subsistence, he needs R180 000 just for hospital fees. Dr Baljit Dheansa who, is a

opportune time as the province enters its wildfire season in November.

“The Western Cape has been very proactive in adopting ICS,” says Fred Farvard, managing director of FFA Training. Courses in the Western Cape focused on training of emergency services officers in their specific roles within ICS. The courses were attended by 148 officers from the five provincial district municipalities with support from the Western Cape Government disaster management directorate, the City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services and regional and ground operations managers of government’s Working on Fire (WoF) programme.

“We hope that by using a common system in which all officers have a clear understanding of their roles and how they fit into the overall system, emergency services will be able to work together to take on any disaster or incident,” says Farvard.

News surgeon, is operating free of charge and the anaesthetist from EGas is also working pro bono. If the surgery set for end October 2014 and recovery until the end of 2014 all falls into place, he will still be scarred, but not as scarred as before. Mahamotse will be attending high school in 2015. “Only by living alongside burns survivors every hour, every day of the year, do you understand what a big difference small changes make. So a nose that costs as much as a house, will hopefully give Feleng a life worth living,” Jones adds.

Mokoena who is now 19 years old, is in the UK with the hope of getting a thumb.

UK activities Visiting the fire stations in the UK was one of the favoured activities of the children. This is something that Children of Fire does wherever it travels. ”They are our brothers and sisters in the campaign to prevent injury and save lives. We particularly wanted to engage with them this time because we have a 13 mile fundraising walk around the Monopoly Board of the real streets of London,” Jones explains. This year the walk was on 20 September; in 2015 it will be Saturday, 12 September and in 2016 it will be on Friday, 2 September as that is the 350th Anniversary of the Great Fire of London.

The children additionally met more than one shift at Soho Fire Brigade, Islington, Lambeth, Dowgate (City of London), Tottenham Hale,

Wendy, Dorah, Nelson, Zanele and Sizwe happily dressed in fire fighter uniforms Walthamstow, Euston Road, Old Kent Road, Whitechapel, the Headquarters, Hillingdon, Harrow and more. Westminster and Clerkenwell fire stations have closed but the children saw the echoing shells of where London’s finest once worked.

The UK fire fighters picked up on the children’s passion to beat the odds, to survive and overcome and ultimately excel. They have pledged to make next year’s walk bigger and better.

The Green Watch at Euston, headed

by Darren Burnett, will walk alongside the children, every step of the way.

“We hope that many other members of the Green Watch shift of London Fire Brigade will feel inspired to turn out and help as well. They can get fit for free, explore the fascinating city on foot, and have great company for a great cause’” appeals Jones.

‘Children of Fire’ is Africa’s first burns charity with an international footprint.

With the assistance of the public, Children of Fire have been able to assist children affected by fire in South Africa and African countries by providing medical advice and assistance to disadvantaged children that would otherwise not receive adequate medical treatment. The charity began when six month-old baby girl left alone in a shack waved her tiny arms, a candle fell and her home burned down around her. The wee charred bundle survived the inferno. She was then taken to three different hospitals that denied her treatment, because they presumed she was going to die.

Young Dorah Mokoena, had a formidable spirit. When she was finally admitted to the Far East Rand Hospital and merely given medicine to alleviate the pain, she confounded everyone by deciding to survive.

Children of Fire founder Bronwen Jones, a Briton who has lived in Africa for 22 years, was made the sole guardian of Mokoena and later adopted her.

The children participated in the Monopoly Moonwalk

By seeing Mokoena through more than 30 operations, Jones gained a deep understanding of reconstructive surgery, psychology and the world of possibility that there is when one looks at restoring quality of life to an extremely-injured tiny human being. This led to the founding of Children of Fire and help being given to some 450 of the most horrifically-hurt children in Africa.

Volume 3 No. 3

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Mount Ontake rescue teams faced with toxic challenge

Rescue teams transport bodies down Mountain Ontake as Typhoon Neneng looms

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ore than 1 100 fire fighters, 550 police and army troops, battled to save

The Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF) carried out helicopter searches for missing people 24

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victims from the volcanic tragedy on the slopes of Mount Ontake, Japan, that erupted on 27 September 2014. Located on the border between Nagano and Gifu Prefectures, about 200 kilometres west of Tokyo, lay the second highest volcano in Japan. Without any significant earthquakes that might have warned authorities in the lead up of the eruption, the Ontake volcano being Japans deadliest in 88 years, cascaded down the mountain in a southwesterly direction for a distance of more than three kilometres.

spewing volcano, resulting in severe injuries and death.

As Mount Ontake is a popular tourist attraction for hikers, hundreds of people go up the mountain, with numbers increasing over weekends.

About 250 people were trapped on the slopes of the popular tourist location but most got down safely. Others were covered under volcanic ash, hit by flying rocks, burned or inhaled fumes from the

On 29 September, rescue efforts were hampered due to fears of escalating volcanic activity and deadly toxic fumes. Rescue workers, however, managed to bring down eight more bodies by helicopter, before toxic gases and ash forced them to suspend the recovery effort in the early afternoon. The following day rescue teams once again were

The Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF) began carrying out helicopter searches for missing people. Rescue workers airlifted dozens of people blanketed in ash from the grey slopes and guided capable survivors down the slope by foot. The bodies of 30 hikers were found in ’cardiac arrest’ a day after the tragic eruption, the term used in Japan before an authorised physician pronounces a person dead.

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Rubber duck averts maritime disaster

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small, Baloyi fishing company harbour tender rubber duck, recently averted a maritime disaster in St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Used in a daring rescue mission to save 10 people from a stricken chokka boat, the small vessel Ricochet was instrumental in ensuring every crew member was safely taken ashore.

The National Sea Rescue Institute’s (NSRI), St Francis Bay volunteer sea rescue duty crew, was activated by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), following reports of the fishing boat, Sikelela, running aground onto rocks and the harbour wall on the western side of the Port of St Francis.

The fishing boat was swept ashore before hitting the rock and Dolos. Eight crew members of the stricken vessel were saved by the Ricochet crew before it hit the rocks. When it did wash

tied from going up the mountain due to dangers of toxic fumes.

Japanese rescuers were only able to resume the grim operation to recover bodies on 1 October after 31 people were believed killed in the volcanic eruption as survivors told of seeing hikers die when tons of ash and rocks thundered from the sky.

up against the rocks, there were only five men remaining on board.

One crewman, the first mate, managed to jump ashore onto rocks, where members of the public assisted and escorted him to paramedics as they arrived on-scene. Two crewmen were rescued from sea by NSRI rescue swimmers and taken on board the sea rescue craft, Spirit of St Francis II. Only one crewman had to be rescued by the rubber dinghy crew after the casualty boat had already washed against the rocks and Dolos. He was taken ashore before the skipper was rescued.

According to Craig Lambinon of NSRI, who assisted in this rescue, this was an incredible feat that certainly averted a maritime disaster. Proof that bravery does not necessarily come with the biggest and best equipment but that heart and passion make all the difference.

a relatively small eruption driven by super-heated steam and ash, instead of lava being ejected from the magma chamber. This fact, made it much more difficult to predict.

Only one crewman had to be rescued by the crew

You don’t have to be big to be brave Toshitsugu Fujii, a volcanologist at the agency, admitted accurate forecasting was very difficult. “Steam explosions such as those on Ontake often occured without warning,” he said.

On 1 October, rescuers discovered more bodies, bringing the number of confirmed deaths to a high of 47. An additional four bodies were found three days later. On 5 and 6 October, the large tropical cyclone, ‘Typhoon Neneng’, made landfall over Japan, preventing rescuers from searching once again. At the end of the rescue search that stretched out over more than two weeks, a total of 57 bodies were found, with six remaining missing.

Many people questioned why the eruption was not predicted.

Volcanologists explain that this was

JSDF soldiers and fire fighters carry an injured person among mountain lodges, covered with volcanic ash Volume 3 No. 3

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Climber has foot amputated after getting trapped between two rocks Rescuers worked long, hard hours, rotating shifts and working upside down with determination to free Rasello from the gripping rocks tying him down. Rescue workers had set up command post on the mountain overnight. Seven helicopters were scrambled and over 100 people were at the scene in respone to Raselo’s call for help. After trying assorted methods to release his trapped foot, the team decided to amputate his leg.

Organisations involved in the rescue included Rustenburg Fire Service, North West Disaster Management, Off-Road Rescue Unit, South Africa Air Force, Rescue South Africa, Lonmin Mine Rescue, Impala Mine Rescue, Netcare 911, ER24, Mountain Rescue and Medi-Assist.

The Mountain Club of South Africa scrambled seven helicopters and a rescue teams to help Rasello when he called for help from his mobile phone

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man had fallen from a mountain near the Rustenburg Kloof Resort, South Africa, resulting in his foot becoming wedged on a cliff between two large rocks. Tsenolo Shadrack Rasello, aged 26, was stuck for almost 50 hours after various failed attempts to extricate his foot.

“I was out there from 20h00 Friday evening, 48 hours. We slept on the mountain, it was chilly. Some didn’t have sleeping bags and slept on the ground in the clothes they were in. It was uncomfortable but not life-threatening cold,” Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) Search and Rescue team leader, Rob Thomas said.

The injured man was alone on the mountain and was frightened by a snake whereby he fell several metres, resulting in his foot being wedged between an 18-centimetre

After amputating the man’s leg, he was taken to Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto for recovery 26

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wide crack in the mountain. Rasello phoned his family who alerted the police. The police contacted the fire department, the police air wing and the MSCA. The rescue team reached the top of the mountain at 03h00. Searching at this time was impossible because it was too dark. The next morning a helicopter was sent, pointing out the location of Rasello to the rescue team. “To get to the patient was a 40m abseil, I went down and tried to get his foot out but all the techniques we tried were not working. “We tried getting one of the mine rescue teams involved but they had just finished fighting an underground fire for over 28 hours. We had no luck” said Thomas.

Fatigue was a major concern paramedics had. They stayed by Rasello’s side non-stop and were rotated every six to eight hours to ensure that he was kept revived.

All work on the patient was done on ropes and upside down.

Rescuers had tried using baby oil to lubricate the trapped man’s leg, as well as chipping away at the rock around it, in an effort to extricate him.

Rescuers had also tried to take off the safety boot the man was wearing but no one could reach it.

After struggling for almost 48 hours,

Rescue workers lower a stretcher to reach Tsenolo Shadrack Rasello

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Sand storm may have potential long lasting effects

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n 16 October 2014 an immense sandstorm made its way from Bloemfontein moving north, affecting parts of Johannesburg, South Africa. High winds brought anticipation for a heavy rainstorm; however, this was not the case.

Travelling sand particles triggered by strong winds resulted in minimal visibility in surrounding areas. Residents were encouraged to stay indoors until the sandstorm had passed. No reports of damage resulting from the sand storm were reported.

The infrequent sandstorm was the result of a brewing thunderstorm coupled with relatively dry conditions. Winds of up to 48 kilometres per hour were recorded around OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, as reported by the South African Weather Service (SAWS).

The downdraft was particularly strong with winds travelling at a high speed from a central point of the developing thunderstorm towards the ground. The thunderstorm base in Kimberly was particularly high up in the atmosphere, but is characteristic of a dry microburst.

When the downburst occurred, the strong winds reached the ground parallel to the surface. Strong winds, which are often damaging, unsettled loose matter carrying them great distances. Bloemfontein experienced a greater sand storm, not only because the storm was formed in the area, but

Sand storm triggered by strong winds resulted in minimal visibility in surrounding areas

as the storm travelled, only smaller dust particles would make it after such a large distance.

Environment activist group Federation for Sustainable Environment CEO, Mariette Liefferink said, “It has been proven the dust from mining operations contain potentially toxic and radioactive particles. Mine dumps and operations are highly susceptible to wind erosion because of a lack of vegetation to hold the top layers down”. Liefferink said heavy metals synonymous with historic mining activities are often nestled in decades-old mine dumps across the heavily mined Gauteng province and beyond.

The storm vanished within a few hours, however, according to Liefferink it may cause long lasting effects. She said studies had shown uranium, if inhaled or digested can enter the blood stream and immediately sought residence in bone or bone marrow, from where it could cause steady degradation of the immune system, cancer or a “plethora of other ailments”. Such ailments may develop over several years with no immediate effects manifested.

She suggested that government needed to revisit its stance on the non-indigenous plant, or provide other solutions to an otherwise “very serious problem”.

surgeons were connected to ropes and lowered down along with a stretcher to get Rasello on to do the amputation. Rasello was then taken to Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto.

Rasello died a few days later after slipping into a coma and being kept on life support machines. The family did not want to switch off the machines but were informed by the hospital that Rasello has died. “They [the hospital] did not tell us how it happened,” said Lawrence Rasello, uncle of the deceased.

A helicopter, loaded with a stretcher carrying Tsenolo Shadrack Rasello, takes the climber to safety Volume 3 No. 3

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The Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa conference 2014

The Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa (DMISA) annual conference Prof Andrew Collins of Northumbria University in the UK; Sharon Rushu, head of the regional office: Africa of the UNISDR and Dr Bob Alexander, also known as Barefoot Bob, an independent consultant in disaster risk reduction and community resilience strengthening.

The first ‘Art on Disasters’ exhibition was successfully launched by University of the Freestate (UFS) DiMTEC and coordinated by Olivia Kunguma, a junior lecturer and Masters program coordinator at UFS DiMTEC.

The annual DMISA conference is the biggest disaster management conference in Africa

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he annual conference of The Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa (DMISA) was recently held at the Sibaya – Imbizo Conference Centre in Umhlanga Rocks, Durban, South Africa and was hosted by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.

The conference theme was ‘Building disaster resilience is everybody’s business’.

The institute is recognised as the mouthpiece of the disaster management profession in southern Africa and the annual conference is the biggest disaster management conference in Africa and routinely attracts more than 350 delegates.

The 2014 conference was presented in partnership with the Northumbria University, South Africa Local Government Association (SALGA), the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), South African Weather Service (SAWS) and the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) and was followed

by DMISA’s annual general meeting.

Councillor Zandile Gomedi welcomed attendees on behalf of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality after the traditional candle lighting ceremony done by Dr Mal Reddy, in honour of those who have passed in the line of duty. International speakers included

Prof Andrew Collins, Councillor Zandile Gomedi, Dr Mal Reddy and Dr Johan Minnie 28

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Dr Johan Minnie was elected as the new president of DMISA, succeeding Dr Mal Reddy and Bafana Mazimbuko succeeded him as deputy president for the 2014 to 2016 term. DMISA’s new executive committee (EXCO) is: Dr Johan Minnie: Professionalisation of DMISA, partnership with SALGA, conference 2015 and sponsorships Bafana Mazibuko: Protocol, legislation and policy Dr Mal Reddy: Marketing, international relations and media liaison Pat Adams: Chair of EXCO, finance and administration Owen Becker: Training, skills development and standards ML Nxumalo: Equity, recruitment and website management Karin Muller: Administrator.

A complete review of the conference appears in Disaster Management: Official Journal of DMISA, also published

by Fire and Rescue International.

Dr Johan Minnie being sworn in as president

International partnership

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for fire and emergency product

he reliability of fire emergency apparatus is something that goes generally unthought-of when requesting emergency fire services. However, to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of these vehicles, it is a crucial component; for these vehicles face the most demanding trials in the field.

With almost 100 years in manufacturing, Hansen International has become the industry standard for roll up doors, d-rings, latches, t-handles, grab handles and stanchions across the globe. Hansen International headquarters in Lexington, South Carolina, is home to both its engineering and manufacturing facilities, as well as its administrative division. With TS16969/ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 certifications, Hansen International designs and tests their metal stamping, polishing, welding, riveting and assembly processes all within the same address. Recently, Hansen International president, John Seehof, toured South Africa to find the best way of bringing Hansen’s patented, trademarked designs and processes to the country.

Seehof’s endeavour began with a call from Alan Saulsbury, president of Fire Apparatus Consulting Services who was working on projects in South Africa. Saulsbury’s expertise comes from his 30-plus years as an apparatus manufacturer as well as his former days as a fire fighter.

The process of purchasing Hansen products through a distribution company meant that South Africans faced stiff shipping costs and tariff charges, amounting to as much as 38 percent on the products imported. “This kind of system doesn’t work,” said Seehof “and we all recognised it early in our conversations.”

Both Rainsford and Wessels saw the opportunity to combine their specific specialties into a single production effort capable of producing a top quality product. “We hope to have a good spin-off for Aluminium and Metal Traders in supplying more raw materials to new clients and expand our market share. We hope to promote the Hansen name by manufacturing a ‘Rolls Royce’ product,” said Rainsford.

“Although I have had vast experience in roll-up-doors in the mining industry, I realised that the quality and cosmetic appearance of these doors for the fire truck market needed precise manufacturing and the only person I knew with the knowledge and expertise was Piet Wessels of Custom Products,” said Rainsford, explaining the new joint business.

Both Piet and I realised soon enough that the fire truck market in South Africa was small in comparison to most other countries and we would need to do market research to establish where additional Hansen products could be used.”

The partnership of Seehof, Rainsford, Wessels and their respective companies is a perfect representation of how a company can keep up with international trade, while not sacrificing the reliability of the product. Look for Hansen International products to appear in South Africa in 2015.

“We were looking at ways to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing process along with ways to reduce costs,” said Seehof. The opportunity that came to light was licensing Hansen’s designs and processes to manufacturers in South Africa, effectively cutting the cost of tariffs, duties, taxes, and freight that make it difficult to import finished goods.

After a weekend of discussion at Kruger National Park, Seehof was then onto Bloemfontein to meet Piet Wessels of Custom Products. Wessels’ company specialises in the design and manufacturing of intricate parts. These parts are used for agricultural farming implements, off-road and 4x4 vehicle equipment and biogenetics’ equipment used for transporting injured athletes. “I want to get out there and develop new markets with Hansen International; this will benefit both of our businesses,” said Wessels “I will endeavour to maintain the existing high standard of the Hansen product.”

Wessels and Seehof were joined by Lalie Rainsford of Aluminium and Metal Traders to explore the possibility of combining their expertise to produce Hansen products, specifically roll-up doors for the fire and emergency market in South Africa. Aluminium and Metal Traders specialises in stocking and distributing aluminium and steel, specifically for platinum and gold miners or for construction and engineering companies.

Volume 3 No. 3

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News

New generation veld igniter

By Rob Erasmus, Enviro Wildfire Services

‘Aansteker’ with gas canister, batteries and carry bag

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ngoing efforts continue to be made in the world of integrated wildfire management to develop techniques and systems that serve to improve the safety of fire fighters and managers. Recent developments include the ‘Bush Aansteker’, a new generation gas ignition system for undertaking prescribed and backburning (burning-out) operations.

vehicle (LDV) for quick use in times of need such as when undertaking back-burning during indirect or parallel fire fighting attacks.

The concept is simple yet ingenious.

Pushing down on a spring-loaded handle the gas from a disposable

canister feeds down a tube to the foot of the devise. There it is ignited by sparks generated from a battery system.

Releasing pressure on the handle shuts of the gas and switches off the sparking system. There is thus not a continuous flame that is emitted but the ignition of a pocket of gas each time the handle is pushed down. The longer it is pushed down, the bigger the gas pocket and thus the bigger the ignition area.

For transportation, the gas canister and batteries are removed, making the apparatus 100 percent safe. This removes the concerns of flammable fuel spilling onto clothing or floors of moving vehicles/aircraft.

From an operational costing aspect, The ‘Bush Aansteker’ is a winner. A gas canister at a cost of approximately R40 will last you for most of the day, as will the set of 4 x size ‘B’ batteries, also at an approximate cost of R 40.

This would total approximately R240 for three ‘Aanstekers’ for the day. As a conservative comparison, using three drip torches in a production burn, each using 25 litres of burning fuel a day, this would equate to an amount in the region of R 1 125. Extrapolated for a week, the costs would be R 1 200 for the ‘Aanstekers’ versus R5 6250 for the

Codeveloped by Roland de Rose and FFA/Working on Fire, this new device seems too good to be true. It is safer to use and transport, cheaper to operate and more environmentally friendly than the commonly used driptorches that utilise a costly mixture of petrol and diesel.

Directly translated from the South African Afrikaans language as ‘The Bush Lighter’, it consists of a three primary components, namely the apparatus, gas canister and batteries.

It can be easily dismantled when transported via road or air by a handcrew. The lighter can also be safely stored behind the seat of a light duty 30

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Close-up of the ‘Bush Aansteker’

News

Firemen injured in bridge smash

A

fireman with eThekwini Fire and Rescue Services was seriously injured when the fire truck he was travelling in slammed into a concrete barrier on a bridge and almost overturned. The incident took place in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa in October 2014.

He and four other fire fighters had been responding to an emergency in the area when the truck crashed into the roadside barrier on the Mhlatuzana River Bridge, extensively damaging the truck.

Fire fighting equipment was strewn on the road. eThekwini Municipality spokeswoman, Tozi Mthethwa, said the five crew members, one with a serious injury, were taken to St Augustine’s Hospital.

“Three of them have already been discharged. The cause of the accident is not yet known and an investigation is under way.”

Raymond Moore of Queensburgh Crime Watch said factory workers heard a loud bang and rushed out to assist when they saw that a fire

department truck was involved. “Diesel and water were flowing onto the road from the truck. It is unclear what happened, but emergency personnel at the scene believe the weight of the truck could have shifted when it came around the bend,” he said.

The wrecked truck came to a stop on three wheels as the rear storage compartment tilted. “The back section of the truck which stores water, water pumps and fire fighting equipment was badly damaged. The impact of the collision caused the equipment to fall out of its storage compartments,” Moore added.

drip torches. With the spiralling cost of petrol and diesel, it is a no-brainer that the operating cost is a mere fraction of the former traditional method.

An added advantage is that additional ‘fuel’ for a long day in the field would consist of a spare canister or two and a spare set of batteries.

A far cry from carrying containers of burn-fuel across the countryside.

From the environmental side and bearing in mind that this could be an important factor especially for managers working in ecologically sensitive areas (including wetlands and reed-beds), this apparatus leaves no residue in the soil, unlike the fossil-fuel drip torches that per an average month would have deposited some 600 litres onto the ground, much of which would have been absorbed into the soil.

As a result of field testing and research and development, the ‘Bush Aansteker’ is ideally suited for a wide variety of habitats, including gum and pine slash, reed-beds, grasslands, Savannah, and Fynbos.

‘Aansteker’ infield trials It has also successfully been used in under-canopy burning of pine compartments in Mpumalanga. It provides the convenience of easily regulating the number of spot ignitions made, allowing for a greater control of the heat that is generated under the trees and thereby reducing the chances of bark or canopy scorch.

As to the actual implementation, the distance apart of each ignition point and duration that the handle is pressed down will be determined by the type of fuel needing to be burnt. In the field the operator quickly determines the most effective distance/duration ratio, and likewise adapts to any changes in the habitat structure.

‘Aansteker’ being used in grass veld Volume 3 No. 3

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News

Two new 8x8 Rosenbauer Panthers for King Shaka International Airport

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irports Company South Africa’s (ACSA) King Shaka International Airport recently took ownership of two new state-of-the art 8x8 Rosenbauer Panther airport crash tenders. The handover coincided with the passing out parade of the Grade 1 and 2 fire fighters who had just undergone training with EThekwini Fire and Disaster Management and long service awards to some of the members.

This was the final handover of the 10 new Rosenbauer Panther airport crash tenders purchased by ACSA, which formed part of the replacement programme of ARFF tenders. ACSA acquired four 6x6 and six 8x8 Panthers, which have now all been delivered to its airports around South Africa.

The South African Defence Force’s Kwazulu-Natal band was on hand playing several marching and other repertoires. Colin Naidoo did the welcoming presentation while Mervyn Nefdt, fire and rescue manager and also a chaplain, opened with prayer.

Terence Delomoney, regional general manager, King Shaka International Airport, said that ACSA took a strategic decision to invest in the best technology there is. He added, “Our guys are at the

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One of two new Rosenbauer 8x8 Panthers at King Shaka International Airport top of their game and we need to ensure they stay on top.” Deshanand Manilall, training officer at EThekwini Metro Fire and Emergency Services commented on how disciplined the fire fighters were. Chief Nefdt reviewed recent fire statistics and discussed latest technology available. Chief Nefdt added that there were three foci that made the airport rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) service exceptional, which is personnel, the effectiveness of the equipment and the speed of which the two come together.

“Physically and mentally fit personnel with a good attitude and inner resilience added to always operational and

competent equipment makes for a winning combination,” he said. The speed of which these two foci respond is critical. Chief Nefdt furthermore overviewed the specifications of the two Rosenbauer 8x8 Panthers after which the keys were handed over by Michael von der Heyde of Rosenbauer South Africa.

The ARFF teams ‘launched’ the new vehicles and conducted several demonstrations displaying the hightech capabilities of the new vehicles.

A hot drill followed where attendees had the opportunity of seeing the Panthers in action at the simulator.

Chief Mervyn Nefdt, Terence Delomoney and Michael von der Heyde

News

The South African National Defence Force’s Kwazulu-Natal band

The handover coincided with the passing out parade of the Grade 1 and 2 fire fighters

Members of EMRS

The event was enjoyed by all

Members of the SANDF Kwazulu-Natal band

The hot drill at the simulator

ACSA prides itself on its proficient personnel

The new Rosenbauer Panther 8x8 in action

Volume 3 No. 3

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News

Cameroon faces floods and cholera epidemic were present on site. Foods items such as rice, cooking oil etc, and some school kits, as schools were expected to resume days after the flood occurred, were provided by the Minister of basic education.

Floods have been further aggravated by a cholera outbreak that was declared on 28 August 2014 within the same vicinity. 22 cholera cases and one fatality have already been recorded. Steps were therefore taken urgently to prevent the situation from deteriorating any further, not only for the victims but also for the entire population of that locality and the entire north region.

The north and far north regions of Cameroon risks floods and flood failures in future

B

ibemi Subdivision, which is located about 64 kilometres from Garoua, the capital of the north region of Cameroon, has experienced flooding in more than 10 villages from mid-August 2014, due to heavy rainfall. This has resulted in extensive damage and loss of life to hundreds of people.

Many of the villages affected, which include Sabongari, OuraKar, Bandoro Botare and Baksa to name a few, were swept away by destroying flood waters resulting in animals killed or washed away, houses and farms destroyed and up to 700 families making up about 3 500 people being majorly affected. 223 family’s homes were completely destroyed and 53 other homes were partially destroyed and rendered uninhabitable. Currently approximately 276 families making up 1 380 individuals are homeless and have resorted to living with 34

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host families and in public buildings.

These buildings however aren’t fit for occupying as families are exposed to harsh weather, respiratory and dirty water-related diseases.

On occurrence of the disaster, the Cameroon Red Cross (CRC) mobilised volunteers, supervised by a member of the national disaster management team to assist those who were affected by the flood.

They assisted in the evacuation of victims to secure areas and provided them psychological support.

On hearing about the disaster, the Governor of the north region activated the emergency mechanism. While on a visit to the area on 26 August, the senior divisional officer for Benue seized the opportunity to reinforce the tactical mechanism put in place against crises. Law enforcement officials, public health workers, and the divisional officer for Bibemi

Operational strategy and plan The CRC, with support from International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) aims to provide assistance to 276 affected families who are now homeless, with a selection of essential non-food items as well as blankets, mats, mosquitos nets, hygiene kits for women of child-bearing age, kitchen sets, soap, jerry cans and buckets, emergency shelter, awareness activities on treatment and storage of water, sanitations kits for health and hygiene promotion.

To tackle cholera, the CRC cholera focal point person was sent to the field for the cholera operation currently being implemented in the neighbouring far north region. A similar operation will be conducted in Bibemi and surrounding communities.

At national headquarters, a crisis meeting chaired by the Secretary General took place and trained National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) members were mobilized for possible deployment.

Families currently live under very precarious conditions as a result of floods, which have deteriorated their homes, furthermore resulting in their crops, livestock and poultry being washed away.

Obituary

Obituary of Christo van Staden

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oved as a supervisor by his fellow fire fighters with a keen ear to listen before voicing his opinion, the death of Christo van Staden came as huge shock to his family and friends who worked beside him at the City of Tshwane Emergency Service.

Christo van Staden commenced duty as a fireman in the former City Council of Pretoria on 1 July 1981.

He served as a fire fighter for many years until he gained the necessary qualification to be promoted to a company commander. He served at many stations and was stationed at Wonderboom Fire Station until his untimely death.

Van Staden had a profound passion for serving the community and was often appraised for his dedication and commitment thereof. His extramural activities included hunting and partaking in shooting competitions with hunting rifles. Here he obtained his national colours for grouping at the competition held in 2012. He was a dedicated professional hunter.

Van Staden September Church in of Tshwane

was laid to rest on 25 2014 at the Shalom Montana. The Chief Emergency Services,

Fire fighter friends say their final goodbyes

chief fire officer, senior managers and colleagues attended the service, along with previous fire fighters who worked with Van Staden. The chief of emergency services, Joan de Beer, spoke on behalf of Van Staden’s family, friends and colleagues.

As a member of City Tshwane Emergency Services for 33 years, Van Staden will be deeply missed by his family, friends and colleagues. He leaves behind his wife and four sons.

Tribute to the late Christo van Staden

Van Staden was laid to rest on 25 September

A guard of honor salutes their fallen brother Volume 3 No. 3

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High rise fire fighting

High rise fire fighting

By Colin Deiner, Chief Director, Disaster Management and Fire Brigade Services, Western Cape Government

The north wing of the new CCTV headquarters tower in downtown Beijing in 2009

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n 23 February 1991, a fire is started on the 22nd floor of the 38-floor Meridian Plaza building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was later found that the fire originated in a pile of oil-soaked rags. A smoke detector on the 22nd floor detected the fire but due to poor coverage of the system, the fire had already spread significantly at this time.

and other electrical system were rendered inoperable because of this.

Fire fighting operations were severely compromised by pressure-reducing valves that were improperly set and provided insufficient pressure for 45mm hose using automatic fog nozzles. Fire fighters attempted to overcome this problem by boosting the pressure in the standpipe system using pumpers. The valves, however, prevented the standpipe outlet pressure from increasing and unfortunately the fire crews did not have the expertise or tools to deal with the problem adequately.

By the time a sustained water supply was established, the volume of fire was too large to be controlled by handlines and after ten hours into the incident, all crews were withdrawn and it was decided to attack the fire with master streams from adjacent buildings. The fire, however, continued to extend vertically until it reached the 30th floor when it was controlled nine hours later by ten sprinklers installed on that floor.

They then proceeded to stretch a 100mm supply line up the stairwell to the 22nd floor. This, however, took more than one hour and at this stage the fire was spreading vertically by lapping from window to window.

In the meantime, the fire had burned through the main electrical feed thereby short circuiting the building’s entire power system. The primary and back-up electrical feeds were installed in a common, unprotected shaft. All lighting, elevators, pumps, fans 36

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Three fire fighters who were doing ventilation operations became disoriented and exhausted their air supply on the 28th floor. They died from asphyxiation before rescue teams could reach them.

The Meridian Plaza fire loss is estimated at US$2 billion, which makes it the costliest high rise building fire in American history.

On 3 March 1997, Pretoria Fire Department responds to a fire in their nine-storey civic centre (Munitoria) soon after close of business.

The first arriving engine crew encountered a fire in the lower ground floor roof void, which was already well developed and spreading rapidly.

Approximately five hours later, one entire wing of the L-shaped building was fully involved in the fire. The sides of the structure had mostly burned and a strong breeze was pushing the fire at a fair rate. A fire attack by crews on the sixth, seventh and eighth floors were successful in stopping the fire but the intensity of the fire column was such that crews on these floors were facing large rollovers, which prevented them from moving forward. A number of fire departments from surrounding cities and as far as Boksburg and Sandton were requested to assist.

The placement of two aerial devices on the southern and eastern sides of the building allowed for the application of master streams into these floors, which, in my opinion, ultimately extinguished the fires.

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Additional problems faced by crews was the gas cylinders that were located in the building’s kitchen/ mess facility and ammunition, which belonged to the Pretoria Metro Police Department located on the 7th floor, which started cooking off and exploding thereby increasing the pucker factor of fire fighters in the immediate vicinity exponentially.

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I am of the opinion that the management of so many different fire services on this fire was well done and that the combined effort ultimately led to a successful operation. There was no loss of life, however, the monetary cost as well as the loss of many historic documents, was massive.

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High rise fire fighting two ladder trucks in the front of the building and at least one at the back, depending on the location of the fire.

The fire on the 38-floor of the Meridian Plaza building in Philadelphia in 1991

The effectiveness of the fire fighting effort will be heavily reliant on the installation of fixed fire protection systems and the ability of the fire department to effectively use them to get sufficient water to the fire areas.

A lot of this will be dependent on good communication.

In a high rise structure, this might be compromised by the buildings concrete and steel infrastructure.

A large multi-storey structural fire is a complex tactical environment and will require large forces of fire fighters working together in a well-coordinated and structured way. Effective coordination of strategy and tactics are vital if we are going to succeed.

Photo credit: Jet Demolition

First due response The first challenge to be encountered by the first in units will be to find sufficient open space to stage their vehicles. Most high rise buildings front towards a (normally busy) street with very little space created for large fire trucks. Your initial aerial apparatus placement must provide you the best vantage point for rescue and the later establishment of large master streams. You might have to ensure sufficient space to site

Clean up of the fire-damaged Munitoria building prior to blasting 38

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Any high rise structural fire must be a multi-alarm fire from the get-go. You can’t afford a single engine response and although I have always advocated at least two engine companies and one ladder truck company as the initial response, it can’t be limited to so few units. The ‘two-plusone’ first response should be the minimum first arrival but thereafter the multiple alarm units should be turning up in their numbers. Even with this turnout you will be hard pressed to make any impact on a well-developed working fire. The myriad of tasks required will quickly overwhelm the first-in units and it is vital that the incident commander does not attempt to do ‘everything’ this early on. If possible, try to extinguish the fire as soon as possible. Don’t allow yourself get distracted by obvious rescue problems or reports of people trapped upon arrival. “Don’t allow yourself to lose sight of your responsibilities and objectives.

Engine companies make rescues by putting the fire out!

Once that is accomplished, there are no more rescue problems!” Quote by Captain Dan Troxell, The District of Columbia Fire Department (DCFD), Engine 15.

A well-developed working fire is going to require a multi-alarm response. The first-in units (if it is not possible to extinguish the fire by themselves) should focus on the actions that will allow the later arriving forces to be effective. Their activities should include the following: • Size-up and initial assessment • Building entry • Initial equipment staging • Determining the extent of the fire • Determine the confirmed and possible location of entrapped occupants • Movement of personnel and equipment to the reported location (fire floor) • Initial report (including findings and initial actions taken) • Commence fire attack Lobby control sector The second arriving company will be responsible for establishing the lobby sector. Their primary task will be to secure the lobby and coordinate all activities related thereto. Primary among these will be the control of incoming units and directing their movements to the determined positions.

The company assigned to the lobby sector should access the fire control room and alarm panel, which will assist them to confirm the location of the fire. They should establish entry points for later arriving entry teams and make sure that they are clearly indicated. All units entering the building should be passing through the lobby and it is here where an effective accountability system will be of great value.

The building’s elevators and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems can also be controlled from here. It might be necessary for the building’s maintenance manager to assist in controlling an advanced HVAC system.

High rise fire fighting Should the lobby area allow it, you can establish an equipment staging area here. Take care though, that you do not block any access or egress routes or restrict the movement of fire crews and victims by doing this.

Staging areas Primary staging The primary staging area for crews should be two floors below the fire floor. This will be the position that crews assemble before being committed to the fire fighting operation. The staging area will also be used for teas to exchange their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) cylinders and as a rehab area for crews coming off the fire floor. A medical post can also be established here for the primary emergency care.

The interior operations sector commander will need to have an accurate picture of what is happening in the staging area so that he/she knows what resources can be committed to the fire attack and used for other support operations such as stretching hose lines, forcible entry and search.

Teams moving from their rigs to the staging area must take all the equipment they might need with them and ensure that it is placed in an equipment pool that is well lit and easily accessible. A check-in system for personnel and equipment should be initiated for the following two reasons: 1. It will give the sector commanders an accurate picture of the resources available to them 2. The people responsible for the staging sector will know what equipment will need to be brought up to them Planning for high rise fires should include configuring your equipment so that it will be easier to carry them up multiple floors and easily deploy them when you get there.

Carrying high rise packs on your rigs will allow you to do just this. There are a number of variations on this theme; ideally you would want to have it include sufficient hose to start and extend far enough for an initial attack (or extend far enough to continue your advance), the nozzle and some basic forcible entry tools. The hose should be so coiled as to easily deploy in a confined area such as a debris-laden passage or stairwell.

Finally, always make sure that all persons are able to hear the commands of the officers in charge of the various sectors to which they are deployed and that a good communications system is in place.

Secondary staging This is where incoming units not directly involved in the initial fire attack will report. An officer should be deployed to command this sector.

This sector should be close enough for crews to move effortlessly to the incident scene but sufficiently far back as not to be in danger from any risks such as falling debris, traffic, etc.

An area should also be made available for the placement of equipment and refilling of SCBA cylinders. All equipment

In 2007 a seven-alarm fire broke out on the 17th floor of the Deutsche Bank building in New York, which spread in both directions, affecting a total of 10 floors. Fire fighting was additionally hampered as the building did not have a functioning standpipe, forcing fire fighters to raise hoses up from the street to combat the flames. 45 engine companies, 30 ladder companies, 3 rescue companies, 19 battalion chief units, 4 division chief’s units and numerous other special and support units responded from the New York City Fire Department to combat the fire

placed in the staging area should be noted and move into the primary staging area upon request.

The secondary staging area location must be given to all arriving units well in advance of their arrival on scene. These units must upon arrival report to the staging sector commander with information on their unit and its capabilities. It might be a good time to mention the vehicle typing system used internationally and also now being implemented in the Western Cape fire services. The Chief Fire Officers Committee in the province recently approved a system whereby all fire/rescue vehicles in various services are classified according to a predetermined typing system. This allows the secondary staging officer to know exactly what the capability of the arriving resource is the moment it pulls up to the scene.

Secondary staging should be considered early on in the scene. A lot of fire trucks will be arriving and every fire fighter on those trucks will want to ‘get-in-there’. As the responsible sector officer, you will need to be ready for some unhappiness and controversy. As incident commander you should try to make it clear to despatch what the specific resource is you will need. If you have enough vehicles, don’t ask for more unless you (a) need them and (b) know where you are going to place them.

Remember, an incident commander calling for more units he/she doesn’t need could be the same as General Custer calling for more Indians.

Water supply Most modern high rise buildings have fixed fire suppression systems and booster pumps to provide adequate pressure Volume 3 No. 3

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High rise fire fighting on all floors. You will, however, also encounter older buildings that do not have much fixed fire protection (other than dry standpipes).

As mentioned in the example of the Meridian building above, things could go wrong with these systems and it is important that the water supply sector is immediate established and starts supplementing the fixed systems as soon as possible. We are not always sure of how well the maintenance of these buildings is being done so it’s better to take that eventually out of the equation.

Incident command If you can’t make an educated guess as to how a building will perform under fire conditions, you are putting yourself and everybody else in danger.

Photo credit: Etienne du Toit

Command of a high rise fires begins long before the actual response. Incident commanders must be skilled and experienced enough in all the aspects of high rise fire fighting to confidently make the decisions needed to effectively deal with the fire. A fire in a multi-storey building will not only follow the laws of nature but also be dictated to by the fixed systems in the fire such as the HVAC system, occupation type, design, etc. Your command team must take all these factors into account when deciding on the plan of attack. Fire is always changing and you cannot be stationary in your attitude to something that is always changing. It takes cool heads to fight hot fires.

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Up to now I have focussed mainly on an interior attack strategy for high rise fires. You may, however, be confronted by a major fire on arrival and have to make the decision to go defensive. The placement of master streams and possibility of structural collapse will become some of your prime objectives. Rescue of people also becomes a far greater risk and the use of aircraft resources becomes a necessity. Try to train with these resources as often as possible, although this is not an easy exercise. You don’t want to have to do this for the first time when the fire is pushing up towards the roof and you have people screaming for help on the roof.

“It is far easier to justify to a property owner why you went defensive than to explain to a grieving widow why you didn’t.” - Captain Joseph Knitter, training officer, South Milwaukee Fire Department, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In closing I have barely scratched the surface of the complexities related to high rise fire fighting in this article. We still need to look at locating the fire, fire attack techniques, search and rescue, use of elevators, etc. I will attempt to do so in future editions. As a fire fighter who responded to a few high rise fires in my career, I’m sure I know only enough to make me go out and learn more and this is what I urge all fire fighters to do.

The day you say ‘I know it all,’ please follow it with ‘I therefore submit my resignation.’”

Institutional arrangements

Wildfires

and wildfires

By Malcolm Procter, deputy director, Department of Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Free State, South Africa

W

hen wildfires roll across the landscape, many are lost in thoughts of total loss and devastation especially when coping with the loss of livestock and infrastructure, yet one important facet that is often overlooked is that institutional arrangements put in place before a fire starts are a critical element of any fire prevention programme and can reduce response times drastically.

Wildfire management is not only an emergency task, the preventive task could be even more important, being better to avoid risk of a fire ignition before it start or minimise its hazard, than later try to extinct it. Wildfire management is not a seasonal task but something that requires attention all year round. Recent fires in the eastern Free State has reinforced the fact that fire has the potential to be one of the most destructive forces on earth cannot be denied. Every year lives are lost, property destroyed and habitats altered by uncontrollable wildfires.

Although humans can do little or nothing to change the incidence or intensity of most wildfires, they have an important role to play in ensuring that wildfires are not converted into disasters by their own actions. Planning for wildfires is a complex task. Having a comprehensive contingency plan may be useful should the question of due diligence arise as a result of an emergency situation. It is also critical that insurance policies be obtained and kept up to date to ensure eligibility for relevant emergency financial assistance. Emergencies often strike without warning and can cause major damage and financial loss.

In the modern age of growing litigation and climatic change, resulting in hotter and drier summers; it is now more important than ever that land owners and managers acknowledge

Much of the work of fire management takes place before a fire starts the need for and implement wildfire mitigation measures, to both minimise the potential for fires to start upon or cross into land under their control or ownership and in the event of such fires, to provide protection to infrastructure, buildings and surrounding properties.

The object of the National Veld and Forest Fire Act, which is administered by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), is to prevent and combat wildfires (including veld, forest or mountain fires) throughout the country. It has a strong disaster risk reduction (DRR) focus through its provisions dealing with the establishment of a fire danger rating system (Chapter 3) and the prevention of wildfires through the construction of firebreaks (Chapter 4). Key to the functioning of this piece of legislation is the establishment and registration of fire protection associations (FPAs), which are associations of landowners, empowered to deal with all aspects of wildfire prevention and fire fighting (§ 3, NVFFA).

The Act serves as a good example of legislative drafting that integrates and takes into account existing institutions

in terms of other statutory instruments in that it also provides for the Minister to register and recognise as FPAs a variety of already-existing committees, agencies or associations (§ 4(3), NVFFA). Whilst many thought that the establishment of FPAs led to the issue of institutional arrangements in terms of KPI 1 of the Disaster Management Act (DMA) being done and dusted, the reality is far from the truth.

Every year lives continue to be lost, property destroyed and habitats altered by uncontrollable wildfires.

According to Lagadec “…the ability to deal with a crisis situation is largely dependent on the structures that have been developed before chaos arrives. The event can, in some ways, be considered as an abrupt and brutal audit; at a moment’s notice, everything that was left unprepared becomes a complex problem and every weakness comes rushing to the forefront.” (Preventing Chaos in a Crisis, Lagadec, p 54) Disaster management frameworks and disaster management plans are the strategic mechanisms through which disaster management planning is Volume 3 No. 3

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Wildfires the best economics model can work well for ‘normal seasons,’ they cannot account for abnormal or ‘blow up’ seasons when fire activity exceeds the limits of the FPA. An unfortunate fact of life for rural fires is that over 90 percent of the damage is caused by less than 10 percent of the fires.

In rural areas over 90 percent of the damage is caused by less than 10 percent of the fires coordinated and integrated across all spheres of government. One question arises whether comprehensive disaster management plans are being prepared by organs of state within provincial spheres of government and, if so, whether these are delivering any tangible benefits at community level. Importantly for purposes of DRR and emergency response, in many instances the area which fire brigade services are required to oversee has either doubled or even tripled, without a concomitant increase in resources, this has severe implications for the capacity of the service to respond in a timely fashion to a fire hazard.

In any emergency FPAs and municipalities will have to work together to deal with people with varying levels of preparedness and capacity to manage the situation.

It appears that most people do not understand what is involved in effective planning or are unwilling to undertake the activity. Developing new ways of working with the community during emergencies offers new opportunities to improve community safety. Landowners and municipalities are strongly advised to develop emergency preparedness plans before an emergency occurs. Not having a preapproved contingency plan in place can only be described as a recipe for disaster.

Whilst the best fire management plans, the best fire intensity logic and 42

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The onset of an emergency creates a need for time-sensitive actions to save lives and property, as well as for action to begin stabilising the situation so that the jurisdiction can regroup.

Such response actions include notifying emergency management personnel of the crisis, warning and evacuating or sheltering the population if possible, keeping the population informed, rescuing individuals and providing medical treatment, maintaining the rule of law, assessing damage, addressing mitigation issues that arise from response activities and even requesting help from outside the jurisdiction .

Against this type of event, the available means for reaction are inadequate.

There is a lack of basic resources, especially in terms of specialist advice and communications. No one knows how to coordinate the different emergency plans that must be implemented by very diverse organisations. In the worst case, the defence systems in place or the conscientious application of the usual emergency action plans can backfire. Time is a crucial dimension in a crisis—immediately becomes a disconcerting parameter, for several reasons: The duration, how long does the triggering event, the acute critical phase, or the after-effects last? People, mechanisms, and organisations are worn down by long duration. The menace of lasting effects and, even worse, delayed effects, hangs over the post-accident landscape.

When a disaster occurs, the local municipality immediately ‘transfers’ management of the situation to the district municipality or province ‘for the sake of simplicity’. 101. This reflects a misunderstanding of the allocation of responsibilities in terms of the DMA because § 54 indicates that irrespective of whether a local state of disaster has been declared, the council of a district municipality is primarily responsible for the coordination and

management of local disasters that occur in its area (§ 54(1)(b), DMA).

A district and local municipality, however, may agree that the council of the local municipality is primarily responsible for the coordination and management of local disasters that occur in its area (§ 54(2), DMA).

Further confounding this issue is that while district municipalities are thus primarily responsible for disaster response in local municipalities, local municipalities still bear obligations as regards integrating DRR into their development planning.

A declaration of a disaster allows for the relevant political head to prescribe extraordinary measures for emergency response and relief, such as the release of available resources (stores, equipment, vehicles or facilities, emergency services personnel); evacuation to temporary shelters of all or part of the population from the disaster-stricken or threatened area as well as the provision, control or use of temporary emergency accommodation; the regulation of traffic to, from or within the disaster-stricken or threatened area and the control and occupancy of premises in such area.

A disaster is a local disaster if it affects a single metropolitan; district or local municipality and the municipality concerned (or if it is a district or local municipality, the district municipality acting alone or with the assistance of local municipalities that fall within its area) is able to deal with it effectively.

Wildfires are rapid moving events and one major challenge is funding, provisions on funding are set out in two provisions in Chapter 6 of the DMA, providing basic principles for the funding of disasters by the national, provincial and local spheres of government, which are set out in greater detail in the findings below. These provisions must, however, be read together with §§ 16 and 25 of the PFMA and § 29 of the MFMA, which provides for the use of funds by national and provincial levels of government in emergency situations.

Section 10A of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act of 2000 is also essential for purposes of addressing the burning issue of the disaster management ‘unfunded mandate’ at the level of municipalities.

Wildfires In addition to preplanning, an effective way to manage priority-setting during multiple incidents, is to have established a coordinating group beforehand composed of senior managers from the agencies and organisations involved, including community groups. This group will meet during the emergency to set priorities and agree on critical areas of concern. However, it should also meet throughout the year to confer on all aspects of concerns, such as standards, objectives, priorities and procedures for coordination and mutual assistance during emergencies.

Much of the work of fire management takes place before a fire starts. Relying on emergency funding during fire crises will not develop the properly trained and equipped organisation needed to safely and effectively respond.

• Pre-loss financing helps get mitigation measures on to the policy agenda. Often disaster risk management projects are not undertaken in isolation, but rather combined with other considerations bringing about improvements in conditions.

• Pre disaster budgeting for disasters emphasises the practice of recognizing the cost of public policy for disaster relief and recovery before the event.

• Post disaster budgeting for losses after the event may be regarded as financial reporting rather than budgeting or more charitably as revision to the budget plan in light of new information received.

• Post disaster assistance at current law levels is largely beyond the control of policy makers. After a disaster assistance policy is enacted and a loss has occurred, its cost is largely sunk.

A preapproved contingency plan also sets out procedures to be followed.

Having a preapproved contingency plan with a standard deviation for payments to be authorised will allow a designated person such as a disaster manager/fire protection officer to authorise funding to a preset level without having to work through bureaucracy; such documentation should also ensure that emergency responders are recorded on municipal databases.

Having this in place will speed up

A preapproved contingency plan also sets out procedures to be followed response and allow for responders to act immediately, helicopters can get airborne and attempt to contain a fire before it gets out of control.

Cooperation and partnerships are important in all aspects of fire, not just in suppression. Mutual assistance agreements are the most common in local and international use but many comprehensive arrangements provide for all types of fire management exchanges and cooperation, including joint planning and implementation of projects, training, technology exchange and research. To achieve a cooperative response to fires, each role player must have an understanding of the systems, structure, resources, capabilities and statutory obligations of the other agencies. Such an approach is only possible if people are empowered with the appropriate skills and knowledge. A standard operating procedure SOP) is ‘an organisational directive that establishes a standard course of action’. In other words, SOPs are written guidelines that explain what is expected and required of fire service personnel in performing their jobs. A comprehensive set of SOPs defines in significant detail how the department intends to operate. SOPs may be prepared for any function that fire service organisations perform, including administration (hiring, equipment maintenance, building inspections, rehabilitation, etc) and emergency response operations (fire suppression, medical services, hazardous materials response, etc). The procedures can be organised and presented in many

different ways, depending on the FPA’s needs and preferences.

An incident action plan (IAP) formally documents incident goals, operational period objectives and the response strategy defined during response planning. It contains general tactics to achieve goals and objectives within the overall strategy, while providing important information on event and response parameters. Equally important, the IAP facilitates dissemination of critical information about the status of response assets themselves. Because incident parameters evolve, action plans must be revised on a regular basis (at least once per operational period) to maintain consistent, upto-date guidance across the system.

An incident organiser is designed to aid incident commanders in organising the fire and ensuring that all necessary procedures and checks have been made.

From a risk prevention and management point of view it is to our advantage to have as many land owners as possible actively involved in and managing their respective FPAs and the plans they make as a collective to manage fires, coordination and integration of all parties is the key to an effective planning. The occurrence and impacts of disasters can only be reduced by implementing effective initiatives focused on preplanning for disaster risk reduction as well as disaster response and relief.

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Emergency Medical Services

Dynamic Emergency Medical Services extends beyond reach Dedicated team of advance life support paramedics at Dynamic EMS

D

ynamic Emergency Medical Services (DEMS) was established in October 2000, by Adrian Trollip, with the intention to offer the public with an exclusive and professional pre hospital emergency service. DEMS is a provider of emergency medical and associated services to patients and clients in emergency and non-emergency situations. Managed through a dedicated regional call centre that caters for all medical assistance situations, from inter hospital transfers to medical emergencies, DEMS makes provision for road and air transport of patients and associated medical aggregates.

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and beyond these established bases, resulting in services being dispersed throughout the entire Eastern Cape.

Vehicle fleet This private ambulance company operates a fleet of 17 ambulances and nine rapid response vehicles. They also boast a medical caravan, quad bike with a rescue trailer and rescue boat to cater to any emergency situation or medical event.

As the largest private ambulance service in the Eastern Cape, DEMS has its headquarters in East London, with other established bases situated in Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, Bedford, Queenstown and Mthatha. The operational area of coverage, however, extends above

Staff complement All staff at DEMS is permanent making up a staff complement exceeding 80 people. DEMS makes provision for volunteers to work with their crews and gain experience, however, a minimum of a basic ambulance assistant’s qualification is required. DEMS additionally has a number of basic ambulance assistants, ambulance emergency assistants and paramedics that are employed

Dynamic Emergency Medical Services was established in 2000

Dynamic emergency Medical Services covers various medical and trauma related emergencies

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Emergency Medical Services

DEMS staff is continuously in training to ensure that they are up to date with the latest developments in their industry by the service. All road operational staff is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

Operations As far as incidents that the unit responds to on a monthto-month basis, the company covers various medical and trauma related emergencies as well as a number of inter facility transfers.

training to ensure that they are up to date with the latest developments in their industry. “Growth has been steady over the years and we strive to grow even stronger in years to come as more and more members of the public seek private medical care� concludes Trollip.

Case history Some of the more challenging incidents DEMS has responded to recently range broadly, involving marine, mass casualty motor vehicle accidents and aeromedical evacuations. DEMS has assisted the local National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) unit in East London with an emergency marine evacuation of the coast involving crew members who were injured on the ship due to rough seas.

Two patients were successfully rescued from the ship. A third crew member fell overboard and could not be saved. The two patients that were rescued were transported to local hospitals in East London where they made a full recovery.

DEMS furthermore attended to various mass casualty motor vehicle accidents in the region, where a number of people lost their lives. One specific accident, as told

by Trollip, consists of a bus that overturned between East London and Mdantsane after colliding with a bakkie. The bus was transporting university students of which roughly 30 to 40 were transported to various hospitals after they sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious. The driver, however, passed away on impact.

Overall DEMS has had significant developments over the past year. This includes the purchasing of new ambulances, which have strengthened their fleet as well as new modern equipment that puts them aside as an emergency medical service provider. DEMS staff is often undergoing Volume 3 No. 3

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Training

Victorian Emergency Training Centre, a benchmark in Australia for training excellence network of gas lines, fire simulation props and a replica ship that burst into flames.

The mock-village features strip shops, a petrol station and a typical Melbourne terrace house for rescue and emergency response training. The inclusion of a sevenstorey building is the tallest structure on the site makes provision for the inclusion of high-angle rescues and aerial training.

Other real life situations including major fires, road accidents and other emergencies are on site, totalling 12 props. Fire, smoke, sound, physical barriers furthermore create a very realistic and natural environment for emergency workers.

Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre (VEMTC), Craigieburn, Victoria

T

he state of the art, billion dollar training facility for the state’s emergency workers was officially opened in Craigieburn, Melbourne in June 2014.

The Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board (MFESB) recognised the need for a purposebuilt, contemporary ‘centre of excellence’ for the training and development of its operational workforce. The new centre will provide a range of emergency response and management learning environments tailored to Melbourne’s urban environment.

Built with the intention to provide emergency workers with a range of different obstacles in various learning environments to practise rescues and highly specialised training scenarios, the Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre (VEMTC) is designed in such a way, that it gives emergency services personnel the chance to fine-tune their skills in a realistic but safe environment. “This will improve the ability of our emergency services personnel to respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations”, noted Premier of Victoria, Denis Napthine, 48

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Just like a suburb, the training facility comprises of roads, intersections, a bus stop and a tunnel. Such detailed features make training at the facility realistic, allowing them to practise live fire and rescue scenarios, thereby preparing police and emergency service workers to respond just how they would in a real emergency.

The practical facility additionally contains exploding houses, collapsed buildings, a

A practical learning environment featuring purpose-built training areas will mimic Melbourne’s complex urban landscape, including: • A residential area will simulate typical Melbourne suburban homes, containing in total six fire scenarios. A petrol station will be used to mimic LPG-tank, dumpster and automotive workshop fires.

A high rise building represents a typical Melbourne city building with multiple fire scenarios incorporated on each level.

• An industrial zone with a petro chemical plant will replicate

Modelled upon an urban city environment, the facility provides access to realistic fire fighting and emergency training scenarios

Newly amalgamated

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Fire protection association Strap

Greater Overberg FPA

he Greater Overberg Fire Protection Association (FPA) is a newly formed FPA through the amalgamation of seven smaller FPAs operating across the Overberg, South Africa, to cover large areas of the Overberg District Municipality. These smaller former registered FPAs are Babilonstoring, Bredasdorp Vlakte, Hagelkraal, Overberg TWK, Sondagskloof, Swellendam and TW-Groenland and one unregistered FPA, Haasvlakte.

Discussions of merging began over three years ago, however, only after the employment of staff in mid2013, did the Greater Overberg FPA become a reality. This was made possible with great thanks to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) FynbosFire project, which was formed to address the challenges faced in the rare Fynbos biome due to climate change and increasing damages owing to fires. The proposal to create

facilities found in Melbourne’s industrial areas and will mimic fire involving hazardous materials.

Here, foam training will also be incorporated as well as low and high angle rescue.

• A transport zone will mimic emergency scenarios requiring inter-agency response. Scenarios simulated here will include train and tunnel fires, train and train stop incidents and road accidents.

• A marine environment will provide training for fighting both dock and shipboard fires. A broad selection of fire simulators, combined with vessel realism, allow for fire suppression, damage control and search and rescue training.

Volunteer and career emergency services personnel from agencies and departments, including the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), Country Fire Authority (CFA), Victoria Police, the State Emergency Services (SES) and Ambulance Victoria are all welcome to train at the facility.

A recent fire in Spanjaardskloof extended over three days

In April 2014, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

(DAFF) approved the application for the boundary extension of the Bredasdorp Vlakte FPA to incorporate most of the Overberg District Municipality, except of the areas covered by the Hagelkraal and Napier FPAs. Since then DAFF has

Napthine, who opened the training centre, said the emergency management hub will ensure the emergency management sector has access to modern training facilities and infrastructure that will promote interoperability.

“VEMTC will be a benchmark in Australia for training excellence and another demonstration of the Victorian Coalition Government’s ability to deliver significant major projects on time and on budget,” said Minister for major projects, David Hodgett.

a single, Overberg FPA was given the go-ahead at an Overberg District fire working group meeting, held in September 2013 in Bredasdorp.

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Fire protection association focus of setting up fire management units (FMUs) and building up effective communications between landowners and the fire suppression services such as Overberg and Overstrand Fire and Rescue Services.

GO Fire Protection Association approved the name change from Bredasdorp Vlakte FPA to Greater Overberg FPA, and Hagelkraal FPA made the decision to join the Greater Overberg FPA. Greater Overberg FPA points of focus The Greater Overberg FPA serves to assist landowners to predict, prevent, manage and extinguish wildfires by practicing integrated fire management (IFM).

The executive committee and Greater Overberg FPA management focus on understanding landowner’s challenges and experiences and local fire history to influence district fire prevention and fire suppression to benefit all. According to Louise Wessels, Greater Overberg FPA manager, their first focus after establishment was to capture members’ details and map their properties in geographic information systems (GIS), together with creating easy to use maps. Currently the Greater Overberg FPA has a clear

As of 2015, the Greater Overberg FPA aims to focus on distributing effective firebreak guidance to their members, including investigation into cost effective measures to remove fuel loads and working together as a group of landowners regarding the implementation of fire management plans. Improving communications with nonconservation state landowners will be part of the focus.

Fire history The Greater Overberg FPA head office is located at the Bredasdorp Fire Station, next to the Overberg Disaster Management Centre and Working on Fire dispatch centre facilitating good communications and cooperation.

The area covered by the Greater Overberg FPA totals approximately 1 135 500 hectares. Wessels says that the Greater Overberg’s fire season extended from November to April 2014, however, more recently the province has experienced some large out of season fires.

Risk profile The climate change trend for the Overberg is a shift towards higher overall temperatures coupled with rainfall later in winter and spring.

This produces quicker and denser plant growth and with that a higher risk for wildfires.

John Albertyn, Louise Wessels, Reinard Geldenhuys and Henrietta Brock 50

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Fynbos is highly flammable as is the case with other Mediterranean vegetation types and is prone to wildfires, increasing fire risk and consequently the risk to economic losses, livelihoods and property within the FPAs area, especially in areas with over 20-year old veld, such as the De Hoop area and the Bredasdorp-Napier-Salmonsdam Mountains. Invasive alien vegetation across the landscape also increase fire risk exponentially and is found in its highest density on unused land not under informal and formal conservation. Agricultural areas in the Greater Overberg comprising of grain, pastures, orchards, vineyards and timber have high economic risk while some have high fire risk as well. High ecological risks are posed by areas that have burnt too frequently in recent decades such as the Boland Mountains. In addition, wildland-urban interface areas, especially along the coast from RooiEls to Hermanus and around informal settlements pose as high risk areas.

Wessels says that areas most prone to wildfires include HottentotsHolland Mountains, Groenlandberg, Kogelberg, Onrus-Hermanus Mountains and Langeberg-West Mountains.

Fire origin The main fire occurrences are the result of human negligence. In addition, lightning strikes make up the primary natural cause of fires occurring in the region.

In an effort to mitigate the prevalence of fires in the district

AFIS field terminal with operations officer, Henrietta Brock

Fire protection association originating from negligence, Wessels says that the FPA has made use of the media to enhance public awareness about the National Veld and Forest Fire Act (Act 101 of 1998) and the responsibility of the landowner thereof. Fire prevention and mitigation information in addition, has been dispersed to members. Meetings in high risk areas for input into strategic firebreaks and mitigation activities resulted in good feedback as noted

by Wessels, while basic wildfire suppression training for members posed a positive outcome.

Fire management units (FMU) furthermore met with members within natural aggregations to discuss and implement better communication and fire fighting. “This saw a good response from members and enthusiasm by FMU leaders,” says Wessels. While most activities are still gaining momentum, overall outcomes will be assessed after the FPAs first fire season.

Staff complement and structure The Greater Overberg FPA has a committed fire protection officer, Reinard Geldenhuys, who has been the Overberg District’s chief fire officer (CFO) for the past 20 years. Wessels says he has been a strong supporter of FPAs in the Overberg from the beginning and a driver for the setup of the Greater Overberg FPA. In addition to this, Geldenhuys is the chairperson of the Provincial Fire Work Group.

A controlled burning course funded through GEF FynbosFire recently took place near Bredasdorp

the FPO, manager, operations officer and consultants with the assistance of FMU leaders carry out operational functions within the FPA. Equipment and technology Due to the strong district fire services, the Greater Overberg FPA offers no fire fighting services. New or recently acquired equipment and

technology by the GOFPA include the Advanced Fire Information System (AFIS) field terminal funded through the GEF FynbosFire project.

The FPA is also in the process of acquiring hand-held mid-band radios to be distributed to FMU leaders at fires and currently make use of SMS alerts, which have proven to be a great success, notes Wessels.

Other staff members at the Greater Overberg base include Louise Wessels who holds the title of manager; operations officer, Henrietta Brock, land and fire management consultant, Rory Allardice. The FPA team is supported by a mapping expert. The executive committee comprises of John Albertyn, chairman of the FPA, the Overstrand chief fire officer, Lester Smith, representatives of large landowners including CapeNature, SANParks, Denel Overberg Test Range as well as the chairs of the former FPAs. While the executive committee is responsible for strategic oversight,

Recent risk map of the Greater Overberg region Volume 3 No. 3

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SAEC Halloween event

Halloween themed family event

H

alloween festivities ignited the air at the most recent burnout that took place on 31 October 2014. Hosted by the South African Emergency Care (SAEC) in Modderfontein, South Africa, the family-friendly event brought local firefighters, community volunteers and crowds of people together to partake in the fun filled evening.

Fire fighters battle the blazing fire

With 80’s music played by their resident band, 3ZACrowded, food stands and prizes for the best Halloween costume following the arduous burnout, the Halloween themed burnout was a great success enjoyed by all.

The fire was killed in less than ten minutes

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Marsh Fire Competition 2014

Corporate fire teams compete

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in the Marsh fire competition

he collaboration between insurance giant, Marsh-Africa (Pty) Ltd and the South African Emergency Care (SAEC) training centre, proved to be a very successful venture during a fire fighter challenge held on 5 September this year in Gauteng, South Africa.

As a risk management solutions driven organisation, Marsh Risk Consulting has implemented specific operational risk management initiatives to assist companies to improve their overall risk management performance.

One such initiative is the Marsh Fire Competition that is held annually on a national basis. This year’s competition took place in September across Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg with the final taking place on 3 October in Johannesburg.

With the purpose of enabling organisations to identify the need to develop a proactive approach to reduce or mitigate the effect a fire or other life threatening emergencies in the workplace, the Marsh Fire Competition that has been hosted for the past three decades, provided top organisations with the chance to enhance their emergency skills.

Organisations from across all industries with different risks and hazards were invited to test their teams against other industries or competitors in an effort to benchmark their performance.

Winners of the Marsh Fire Competition 2014

With first summer temperatures soaring, 18 corporate teams competed against each other in the annual challenge. These teams comprised of staff members at large companies who have opted to become part of the respective volunteer resident fire fighting teams.

The competition consisted of two categories namely beginner and advanced. The beginner category tested the organisations fire readiness in the form of protective equipment, an extinguisher drill, a team coordination exercise and a first aid exercise. The advanced category followed a similar format but had an additional significant technical challenge in the form of a large live fire hose drill

Teams showing how it’s done

focusing on leadership, team effort, technical competence and safety.

Many of the contestants were trained

by SAEC while others successfully completed their company’s own training. However, these men were as committed as any fulltime fire fighter and the camaraderie amongst them was immediately noticeable. They bought into the spirit of fire fighting heroes and being volunteers did not dampen their commitment in any way. The teams went head on, competing and testing their skills against each other in an ambience of bonhomie and mutual pride.

This year saw the team from Nampak DivFood walk away with the laurels as the best team of the day.

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Strap trauma day challenge 2014 Annual

Annual trauma day challenge 2014

The SA Emergency Care Scott Safety Fire Fighting Challenge commences

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Shopping Centre and South African Emergency Care (SAEC), hosted the annual trauma day challenge at The Glen Shopping Centre in Oakdene, Johannesburg, South Africa.

On 18 October 2014, the hospital and trauma divisions of Netcare, The Glen

Those who participated in the challenge ranged from Netcare 911, Johannesburg and Pretoria emergency services, Heidelberg volunteers, staff

October is marked as World Trauma Day, which highlights the increasing rate of accidents and injuries causing death and disability across the world and the need to prevent them.

members from Netcare Union Hospital’s emergency department, students and instructors from Netcare’s Faculty of Emergency and Critical Care, South African Emergency Care (SAEC) Station 33, as well as the paramedic students from the University of Johannesburg.

Three challenges made up the event including the Emergency

Results Nr

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Total Score

1

Nampak DivFood

2

Tiger Brands Snacks, Treats & Beverages - Mellows & Jellies

120

3

Tiger Brands Albany Germiston

114

4

Tiger Brands Culinary Boksburg

112

5

Tiger Brands Snacks, Treats & Beverages - Chocolate

100

6

Tiger Brands Langeberg and Ashton

96

7

Goldi

95

8

Tiger Brands Tastic

94

9

Tiger Brands Jam Unit

90

10

Astral Festive

86

Mpact - Corrugated Epping

73

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Team(from first to last place)

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Annual trauma day challenge Strap 2014

It’s all about the grip

Competitors heartily hoist a load over the obstacle

Victory on completion of the challenge!

Medical Service (EMS) Netcare Trauma Division Rescue Challenge, the SA Emergency Care Scott Safety Fire Fighting Rescue Challenge as well as an individual challenge.

The EMS challenge’s aim was to retrieve Rescue Randy, the training mannequin, at the end of the lined up

obstacles, while the rescue challenge consisting of a team challenge and an individual event with an obstacle course, included a fixed five floor scaffolding construction.

challenge. Each team comprised of four individuals and 23 people participated in the individual challenge. All participants as a standard prerequisite had to in some or other way be involved in the trauma discipline in order to enter the challenge. “The

A total of 20 teams and 23 individuals competed in the trauma day

The EMS challenge aim was to retrieve Rescue Randy Volume 3 No. 3

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Annual trauma day challenge 2014 event was well supported and definitely bigger than our highly successful 2013 event,” said trauma programme manager at Netcare in Milpark, Amanda Klette.

“We invited all Gauteng based emergency services, private as well as provincial, as well as all emergency departments and the South African Police Service”.

Teams battled it out for the winning title, making sure that their timing was on point. “Timing is everything when it comes to winning but there are penalties for errors,” said trauma programme manager at Netcare Milpark, Rene Grobler. On completion of the arduous challenge the three winners of the various challenges were announced. Angel Nefuri, a student at the University of Johannesburg, attained first prize for the individual challenge, winning a week away to the Pezula Golf Estate in Knysna for two. This included airfares as well as car rental. Both the rescue challenge and the EMS challenge were won

by SAEC Station 33, who took home

gift packs from Centrum Guardian and gift vouchers from The Glen Shopping Centre. All winners received trophies and medals over and above their prizes.

Prizes for the fastest woman and second placed individual were also awarded with vouchers from Masterdrive for defensive driving and hijack awareness. A host of random prizes sponsored by Centrum Guardian and The Glen Shopping Centre were also awarded.

Overall the event saw colleagues, families and teams alike sharing in the fun and supporting the initiative on World Trauma Day. When asked what changes or improvements will be made in future to better the outcome of the next trauma day challenge, Klette suggests that invitations be sent out sooner with the hope of advertising the event a little better.

The next trauma day challenge will take place on World Trauma Day next year, being 17 October 2015.

Joe Adlam and his dog, Buddy, abseil from the tower

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African Rope Access Championships 2014

African Rope Access Championships 2014

E

nthusiasm ran high during the recently held African Rope access challenge, hosted

by Heightsafety. The first African Rope Access Championship took place on 10 and 11 October 2014 at the Heightsafety training centre in Midrand, South Africa. The idea behind the event was to provide road accident technicians with an opportunity to show competence in an athletic way. Any current, competent, registered institute for work at height (IWH) rope access technician who held a valid license to operate was welcome to enter.

The competition saw approximately 30 competitors battle for the win over the two day challenge.

The contender who completed a combination of four rope access manoeuvres without any safety mistakes and in the shortest time won the competition. Shortcuts were permitted so long as competitors remain on two points at all times.

Any safety mistakes resulted in immediate disqualification.

Contenders ranged between rope access level one and rope access

level two technicians. Rope access level two technicians had 30 seconds handicap on each manoeuvre to ensure fairness.

Companies who sponsored their technicians included Heightsafety Projects, Wide Open Platforms, Ro-Al Constructions and Titan Equipment.

Several individuals who met the requirements also entered on their own account. A judge was allocated to a specific manoeuvre. Mike Zinn, a skyriders access specialist, was allocated to manoeuvre one. Riaan van Staaden of Flighting Boyz judged manoeuvre two, Kobus Joubert of Fall Prevention Technologies judged manoeuvre three and Monty van Staaden of BHP Billiton Khutala judged manoeuvre four.

Manoeuvres Four manoeuvres in no particular order were required to be completed.

1.

Ascending and descending through a deviation, past knots, through a re-belay and back down to the ground. The total height of all the manoeuvres combined was eight metres.

2. A short line transfer, into a long line transfer, into a loop and down to the ground. This ran in a triangle and all ropes for the transfers needed to be prepared and connected to the technician’s harness before the time started. The manoeuvre was completed once the technician

Master of ceremony, Lappies Labuschagne of Titan Equipment Volume 3 No. 3

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African Rope Access Championships 2014

The total height of all manoeuvres combined made up eight metres

A competitor demonstrates his high angle rescue skills

Winner of the challenge JJ Conradie showing how it’s done

Terrence Selowa took second place with a time of 21 minutes and 33 seconds

JJ Condradie in action

Conradie competing in manoeuvre three

was back on the ground where he/ she started.

Once the technician reached the other side, he/she had to transfer to a set of access ropes and abseil down to the ground. No tie back of cow tails onto the beams was permitted.

Much support and excitement was shown towards the competitors from all sides of the battle ground.

The second day of the competition brought contenders, colleagues as well as family members to the competition resulting in a fun day for all. With a crowd to impress and various equipment prizes up for grabs, contestants fought long and hard to win the African Rope Access Championship.

3. A combined aid climbing exercise followed third. The technician accesses the aid climbing routes with an access rope from the ground. A combination of steel beams and eye bolts needed to be aided by making use of short slings and direct connections. A total number of 14 eye bolts needed to be crossed and two sections of three-meter beams.

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4. Pick off rescue where the victim is stuck on a descender about five metres off the ground. The rescuer needed to access the victim on the same set of working ropes, accessing the victim from underneath.

ECSSA hosts conference

T

ECSSA conference

at world heritage site

he recent, third conference of the Emergency Care Society of South Africa (ECSSA), focussed on pre-hospital emergency care. According to the president of ECSSA and member of the organising committee, Chris Stein of the University of Johannesburg, the set goals were achieved. He, however, stated that more buy-in from emergency rescue operators is still needed.

The aim of the three-day conference was to exchange ideas, experiences and knowledge, as well as develop and promote collaboration between organisations and tertiary institutions.

It brought academics, educators and practitioners together in a bid to highlight the significance of prehospital emergency care.

Held at the Cradle of Humankind’s Maropeng Centre, northwest of Johannesburg in South Africa, the conference saw ongoing lectures,

After hours of competing, spamming over two days, the winners of the challenge were announced.

JJ Conradie came first with a total time of 20 minutes and 16 seconds, followed by Terrence Selowa coming second with a total time of 21 minutes and 33 seconds.

Vincent Motshaisa not too far behind, trickled along, coming third with a total time of 21 minutes and 39 seconds. The prize money was R10 000 for first place, R5 000 for second place and R3 000 for third place.

Enthusiastic Conradie took the ropes once again, challenging managing director of Heightsafety, Johan du Toit, on station 1. This resulted in a positive outcome for Conradie who started Rope Access training in 2012.

The winner of the first African Rope Access Championship Conradie (25), of Heightsafety is a level one rope access technician with over 100 hours under his belt.

Currently facilitating and training

Local and international speakers shared the latest trends in prehospital emergency care during lectures over three days workshops and demonstrations and provided an ideal platform for the various role players to network.

With its theme of ‘First contact to final outcome,’ the conference drew local and international speakers and it was

across South Africa in countries such as Botswana, Malawi, Angola and the like, Conradie is adamant to obtain his level two as a rope access technician. His future goal is to manage training in Botswana on a full-time basis. With a smile that couldn’t be wiped off, Conradie does not shy away from being called an ‘adrenalin junkie’. His previous work consisted of instructing parachuting in Namibia confirming his love for adventure. When asked why he entered the African Rope Access Championship, Conradie replied,” I want those who I trained to say this is the guy that trained me, I want to challenge him. By me entering, I hope they feel motivated”. Overall, Conradie enjoyed the competition.

He hopes for more of these events to be held explaining that, “it’s a good vibe and brings a great spirit to Heightsafety.”

access challenge, the event will be hosted on an annual basis and is scheduled to take place again early next year.

Due to the great participation and support of the African Rope

Contenders ranged between rope access level one and rope access level two technicians Volume 3 No. 3

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ECSSA conference With the aim of improving awareness of the general legalities pertaining to the management of psychiatric emergencies within the South African emergency medical service (EMS) environment, Victor Voorendyk discussed legal aspects of emergency psychiatric care from an EMS perspective. An overview was also given of the relevant law dealing with psychiatric healthcare and specifically also emergency psychiatric care.

His discussion gave light to the legal implications of intervening in cases of psychiatric emergencies, the need for better developed guidelines relating to the management of psychiatric emergencies in the out-of-hospital setting and fundamental rights of mental health care users and the potential unconstitutionality of Section 40 of the Mental Health Care Act. The entrance to the breath taking conference centre, built in a hill at the Maropeng heritage centre outside Johannesburg in South Africa evident that although the South African scenario is of a very high standard, continued training is of the utmost importance as the landscape of emergency care is constantly evolving.

baseline information on which to base flight criteria, staffing and policy documents. This has the potential to hamper the advancement of HEMS within South Africa.

Head at the department of emergency medical care and rescue, Raveen Naidoo, gave insight into prehospital emergency care in South Africa while Burl Redelinghuys highlighted the problems experienced in rural areas in his lecture on “Rural pre-hospital emergency care: evolution or devolution?”.

A quantitative study with the purpose to undertake a descriptive analysis of the patients flown by the Netcare 911 HEMS over a 12-month period, both in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and to assess the patient’s outcome took place.

An analysis of patient transportation by private helicopter emergency teams in the country by Dagmar Muhlbauer, painted a picture of how irreplaceable these services are, especially in countries where governmental emergency transport is already under severe pressure as is the case in sub-Saharan Africa.

Muhlbauer further explained that there is an absence of literature describing the types of patients treated and the clinical outcome of these patients flown by helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) within South Africa. The paucity of literature on this topic poses a challenge for current aeromedical services as there is no 60

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Results showed that adult male patients were the most commonly flown patients in both Gauteng and KwaZuluNatal. Motor vehicle accidents were the most common incident type for both operations At the 24-hour follow up 63,1 percent of patients were alive and stable and at the 72-hour follow up, 75,3 percent were alive and stable.

Various lectures on ethics and the existing clinical laboratory skills curriculum were also part of the programme, culminating in Navin Naidoo’s presentation on prehospital emergency treatment in the next decade.

Martin Botha gave an insightful overview on the South African public emergency management services while Graham McClelland shared the community needs and various scenarios in the United Kingdom with the attendees. The annual general meeting of ECSSA was held before a scrumptious dinner on the second last day of the conference.

Muhlbauer noted that the findings of the study provide valuable information that may have an impact on the current staffing and authorization criteria of South African HEMS operations.

On the final day, moderator Steven Lunt talked in-depth on the issue of advanced life support paramedics as a useful resource or an over-prized luxury.

Emergency care education came under the spotlight as Rob Deighton gave an international perspective.

With the current situation where the Ebola virus is turning into a pandemic, one of the most important lectures was on infection control in the provision of emergency medical services.

Other workshops held, dealt with issues such as new approaches to motor vehicle incident management, ventilation and safety in hostile environments, which is a problem experienced in South Africa.

Stein expressed hope that this conference, which is held every two years, will continue to grow and that more delegates would attend. This year saw 80 local and international delegates at the conference.

Heritage

Dalmatians

D

almatians have been around for about 600 years. To understand how the Dalmatian became the number-one firehouse mascot in England and the United States, we must take a long look back in history.

The exact time and location of the dog’s origin are unknown. However, because Dalmatians appear in an Italian wall painting dated about 1360 and because these spotted dogs were named after Dalmatia, an Adriatic coastal region, one may assume that they originated somewhere in this area. But, it wasn’t until 1780 when the name “Dalmatian” was used in the English language.

Weighing 11kg to 52kg and standing 377mm to 450mm high, the Dalmatian was the perfect size to serve as a coach dog. The Dalmatian is a very physical breed, with a strong, muscular body and able to run great distances without tiring.

In the 1700’s, Dalmatians were used to protect horses that pulled English stagecoaches. English aristocrats during the early 1700s were among the first known to use Dalmatians to accompany their carriages, according to Trevor J Orsinger’s book, ‘The Fire Fighter’s Best Friend: Lives and Legends of Chicago Firehouse Dogs.’ The dogs became a status symbol of sorts; the more Dalmatians you had running beside your coach represented your social standing.

It is during the era of horse drawn fire apparatus that the Dalmatian becomes forever tied to the fire service. The use of Dalmatians carried

over to the horse-drawn wagons that fire fighters rode to the scene of a fire. When a fire alarm sounded, the Dalmatians would run out of the firehouse, barking to let bystanders know that they should get out of the way because the fire fighters’ wagon would soon come roaring by. Once the wagon was out on the street, the Dalmatians would run beside it.

Typically two Dalmatians would run next to the horses as they pulled the coach. When other dogs tried to run out and scare the horses, the Dalmatian team would chase them away. Over the years, Dalmatians formed a close bond with horses. During this time, horse theft was very common and the Dalmatians would sleep with the horses and guard against theft.

These fire house horses were required to spend hours at a time at a fire scene or hours inside the fire house waiting for a call and despite many misbeliefs, were not broken down old hags but fine spirited horses. The Dalmatian became the horses pet as it were, to help keep them calm. The brave, loyal dogs also served an important purpose once the wagon approached a fire. Horses are afraid of fire and the Dalmatians’ presence could distract and comfort the horses as they pulled the wagon closer to a blaze.

Once on the scene of the call, the Dalmatian took over as guard dog, insuring that nothing was stolen from the apparatus. The Dalmatian is a very loyal breed to its owners and an admirable foe when challenged. Because of the dog/horse bond, the Dalmatian easily adapted to the firehouse in the days of horse-drawn fire wagons. Since every

firehouse had a set of fast horses to pull the pumper, it became common for each group of fire fighters to keep a Dalmatian in the firehouse to guard the firehouse and horses. The Dalmatian became the fire fighters’ companion and a symbol of the fire service.

Today, Dalmatians are still found in many firehouses in England, Canada and the United States. Because of this loyalty, the Dalmatian continued in the fire service once the horses were replaced with mechanical apparatus.

In many large cities, the Dalmatian is the guard dog of the fire truck while at the scene of fires and rescues. The dogs are also known to catch and kill rats that have taken up residence in firehouses. In its long history in the fire service, there are also reports of how the Dalmatian has rescued trapped fire fighters or victims. Overall, the Dalmatian is a brave and valiant dog.

Sources: IAFF and Live Science

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What’s on?

2014 November 15 – 16 November 2014 Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) Candidates will be competent to recognise and initiate the management of cardiac arrest and peri-arrest conditions Venue: Action Training Academy, Fourways,

South Africa Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com 17 – 21 November 2014 Fundamentals of fire investigation The programme will promote a clear understanding of fire investigation and the rendering of opinion regarding origin and cause. It in includes practical investigation exercises and is now aligned with NFPA 921 Venue: FPASA College, 105 Springbok Road,

Bartlett, Boksburg, South Africa Contact: Christine van der Westhuizen

Tel: 011 397 1618

Email: college@fpasa.co.za For more information visit: www.fpasa.co.za 17 – 21 November 2014 Fire appliance reconditioning A course designed to provide learners with a working knowledge of the correct measures to be taken to restore an extinguisher or hose-reel to full operational readiness Venue: FPASA College, 105 Springbok Road,

Bartlett, Boksburg, South Africa Contact: Christine van der Westhuizen

Tel: 011 397 1618

Email: college@fpasa.co.za For more information visit: www.fpasa.co.za 20 – 21 November 2014 International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) ITLS courses are designed for providers who are first to evaluate and stabilise the trauma patient. The courses provide complete training in the skills needed for rapid assessment, resuscitation, stabilisation and transportation of trauma patients Venue: Action Training Academy, Fourways,

South Africa Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com 24 – 26 November 2014 Develop and Implement Response and Recovery Plans LG SETA NQF Level 5 accredited skills development in disaster risk management programme course Venue: 263 Jean Ave, Lyttleton, Gauteng,

South Africa Contact: Francis

Tel: 083 285 0195 or 012 664 3192

Email: francis@dms-online.co.za 27 – 28 November 2014 Basic life Support Instructor Course (BLS I) All instructors must have a valid BLS instructor certificate and have a firm, working knowledge of the training materials, including textbooks and certificates to be issued for each specific Course. All examination material must be kept under strict lock and key at all times Venue: Action Training Academy, Fourways,

South Africa

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Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com

December 3 - 5 December 2014 The Alan Brunacini Fire-Rescue Leadership Institute This retreat for chief officers introduces attendees to an array of case studies and personal experiences by some of the USA’s fire service leaders. Roundtable discussions and presentations led by America’s most renowned fire chief, Alan Brunacini, are designed to prepare individuals for their journey through fire and rescue leadership.

Venue: Coweta County Fire Department,

483 Turkey Creek Road, Newnan,

GA 30263, USA Contact: Tel: 00770 254 3900

Email: fireleadership

@columbiasouthern.edu For more information visit: https://mycsu.columbiasouthern.edu 5 - 8 December 2014 2014 IAEMSC Leadership Summit The IAEMSC leadership summit is intended for middle and senior leaders in EMS organizations.

The summit will include attendees from across the United States as well as international EMS representatives Venue: Embassy Suites DC Convention

Centre, 900 10th Street NW,

Washington, DC, USA Contact: James Robinson

Email: james.robinson@iaemsc.org For more information visit: www.iaemsc.org

2015 January 18th - 20th January 2015 Intersec 2015 This trade fair for safety and security has expanded to focus on the technical solutions, to commercial security, fire and rescue, safety and health Venue: Dubai International Convention and

Exhibition Centre, United Arab

Emirates For more information visit: www.intersecexpo.com 26 January – 27 February 2015 ATA Training ECP – 5 week Basic Course EMS principal and techniques will be taught up to basic life support level including airway control, CPR, emergency medical and trauma care of critically ill patients and more. candidates will be introduced to the role of ambulance service administration, rescue, technical support, ethics, code of conduct and the HPCNA Venue: ATA - International Training Namibia,

10 Armstrong Street, Windhoek

Namibia Contact: Theresa Foster

Tel: 0264 61 302 931

Email: theresa

@ata-international.com.na For more information visit: www.ata-international.com.na 26 January – 21 May 2015 ATA Training ECP – 16 week Intermediate Course

EMS principal and techniques will be taught up to intermediate life support level including airway control, CPR, emergency medical and trauma care of critically ill patients and more. candidates will be introduced to the role of ambulance service administration, rescue, technical support, ethics, code of conduct and the HPCNA Venue: ATA - International Training Namibia,

10 Armstrong Street, Windhoek

Namibia Contact: Theresa Foster

Tel: 0264 61 302 931

Email: theresa

@ata-international.com.na For more information visit: www.ata-international.com.na 31 January – 1 February 2015 International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) ITLS courses are designed for providers who are first to evaluate and stabilize the trauma patient. The courses provide complete training in the skills needed for rapid assessment, resuscitation, stabilization and transportation of trauma patients.

Venue: ATA Fourways, South Africa Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com

February 9 February 2015 Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers (BLS) Participants will be able to perform the initial steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in victims of all ages, basic airway manoeuvres and rescue breathing with and without adjuncts.

Venue: ATA Fourways, South Africa Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com 10-11 February 2015 Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ( ACLS) Candidates will be competent to recognize and initiate the management of cardiac arrest and peri-arrest conditions.

Venue: ATA Fourways, South Africa Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com 14 February 2015 BLS for Health Care Provider – Half day course Participants will be able to perform the initial steps of Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in patients of all ages, basic airway management, use of an AED, chocking and more Venue: ATA - International Training Namibia,

10 Armstrong Street, Windhoek

Namibia Contact: Theresa Foster on

Tel: 0264 61 302 931

Email: theresa

@ata-international.com.na For more information visit: www.ata-international.com.na 16 - 17 February 2015 Basic life Support Instructor Course ( BLS I) All Instructors must have a valid BLS Instructor Certificate, and have a firm, working knowledge of the training materials, including textbooks and certificates to be issued for each specific Course. All examination material must be kept under strict lock and key at all times.

Venue: ATA Fourways, South Africa Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com 24 – 25 February 2015 International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) ITLS courses are designed for providers who are first to evaluate and stabilize the trauma patient. The courses provide complete training in the skills needed for rapid assessment, resuscitation, stabilization and transportation of trauma patients.

Venue: ATA Fourways, South Africa Contact: Gugulethu More

Tel: 011 450 4981

Email: gugulethu.more

@ata-international.com

March 11-13 March 2015 AIPS 2015 AIPS 2015 is the meeting place for professionals involved in protection, security, fire-fighting and related fields Venue: Almaty, Kazakhstan For more information visit: www.aips.kz/index.php/en/ 17 – 19 March 2015 The 5th International exhibition “UzSecureExpo – Indusrtrial safety and fire protection” The exhibition will show the range of equipment and new approaches to security, such as: technical means to ensure safety in industrial, alarm systems for fire and smoke, the equipment to provide integrated security, fire trucks, walkie-talkie Venue: National Exhibition Complex

“UzExpoCenter”, Uzbekistan For more information visit: ieg.uz/archives/983?lang=en 24 - 26 March 2015 Wildland-Urban Interface conference This year’s program includes the following tracks: fire adapted communities, operations and suppression, wildland fire policy & tools Venue: Reno, Nevada, USA For more information visit: www.iafc.org 25 - 26 March 2015 Fire Australia 2015 conference Fire Australia 2015 is the premier fire protection industry conference, attracting key personnel, peers and significant representation from businesses, government and associations. The program will incorporate two and a half days of presentations, workshops and social activities, including a cocktail reception, conference dinner and farewell lunch ensuring plenty of networking opportunities.

Venue: Gold Coast Convention and

Exhibition Centre, Broadbeach,

Australia For more information visit: www.fireaustralia.com.au 28 - 29 March 2015 Technical Rescue Conference The conference is open to all responders and includes lectures and practical skill sessions in a variety of subjects including rope, confined space, structural collapse, water, vehicle, machinery and trench rescue as well as incident & team management training.

Venue: New York State, USA. Details to follow For more information visit: www.dhses.ny.gov/ofpc/news/events/

April

June

13 - 16 April 2015 MIPS Moscow International exhibition for the safety, security and fire safety industry Venue: VVC, Pavilion № 75, Moscow, Russia For more information visit: www.mips.ru/en-GB

8- 13 June 2015 INTERSCHUTZ 2015 Originally conceived as a trade show for the fire services, INTERSCHUTZ has grown to become the world’s leading exhibition for fire prevention, disaster relief, rescue and safety and security. The 2015 Toughest Fire fighter Alive (TFA) competition to take place at INTERSCHUTZ as part of the world championships Venue: Hanover, Germany For more information visit: http://www.thebigredguide.com/events interschutz-2015.html

20 – 25 April 2015 FDIC International Conference Venue: Indiana Convention Centre,

Indianapolis, USA For more information visit: www.fdic.com 22 – 25 April 2015 International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) 2014 Annual Conference Venue: Birmingham, Alabama, USA For more information visit: www.ifsac.org

May

16- 20 June 2015 Thermoprocess 2015 Seminar/symposium Venue: Messeplatz, Germany

12 - 14 May 2015 Securex and A-OSH Expo Securex will be the largest and most comprehensive show of its kind in Africa and the only show exclusively dedicated to the very latest developments in security, safety, fire and protection. It is aimed at all those in the trade who consider issues of business and personal security, protection and safety to be of paramount importance Venue: Gallagher Convention Centre,

Johannesburg, South Africa Contact: Joshua Low

Email: joshual@specialised.com

20- 25 June 2015 NFPA conference and expo This conference and expo are the year’s largest and most important event for the fire protection, life safety and electrical, widely regarded as the most comprehensive event in the industry Venue: McCormick Place Convention

Centre, Chicago, Illinois, USA For more information visit: www.fireproductsearch.com

12 - 15 May 2015 NAMPO At the NAMPO Agricultural Trade Show visitors are able to take their time to view all sectors of the show from livestock to computers. The practical demonstrations of implements and machinery are a unique feature and distinguish the NAMPO Agricultural Trade Show from any other agricultural show.

Venue: NAMPO Park, Bothaville, Free State,

South Africa For more information visit: www.nampo.co.za/

6 – 10 October 2015 International Mines Rescue Body (IMRB) conference Venue: Hanover, Germany For more information visit: imrb2015.de

13 - 15 May 2015 The Alan Brunacini Fire-Rescue Leadership Institute This retreat for chief officers introduces attendees to an array of case studies and personal experiences by some of the USA’s fire service leaders. Roundtable discussions and presentations led by America’s most renowned fire chief, Alan Brunacini, are designed to prepare individuals for their journey through fire and rescue leadership.

Venue: Charleston Fire Department,

1451 King St, Charleston, SC, USA Contact: Tel: 00770 254 3900

Email: fireleadership

@columbiasouthern.edu For more information visit: https://mycsu.columbiasouthern.edu 20 - 22 May 2015 Disaster Management 4th International Conference on disaster management and human health: Reducing risk, improving outcomes Venue: Istanbul, Turkey For more information visit: www.wessex.ac.uk/15-conferences/ disaster-management-2015

October

12 - 16 October 2015 6th International Wildfire Conference Korea Forest Service and the Korea Forest Research Institute will host the conference Venue: Alpensia Resort, Pyeongchang,

Gangwon, Korea More information coming soon or visit: www.wildfire2015.kr 27 – 30 October 2015 A+A 2015 A+A is the world’s largest and most important specialist trade fair for all aspects of safety, security and disaster management with quantitative and qualitative first class product ranges, numerous special events and informative meetings Venue: Dusseldorf, Germany For more information visit: www.aplusa-online.com

November 1 - 6 November 2015 SAESI Conference Conference, exhibition and training events to facilitate inter-agency engagement to build resilient communities Venue: Expo Centre, Nasrec, Johannesburg,

South Africa For more information visit: www.fireonline.co.za

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Poem

“Because�

Do you see what my eyes have seen?

Furious flames, crying children Mangled metal, hammered homes This is my job Do you hear what my ears have heard?

Screaming sirens, bellowing bangs Angry alarms, mourning mothers This is my work Do you know what my heart has felt?

Breathless babes, abiding anguish Scorching sorrow, rapt resolve This is my calling Do you understand what my soul has given?

Tearful tolerance, lasting loyalty Sincere sympathy, ultimate unity This is my pursuit Do you know how I survive the call?

Cultivated courage, bonded brotherhood Simple sacrifice, redemptive rescue This is my life

Written by Robin Weinrich

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