weekender the western
Printed on 100% recycled paper
FRI 24 OCT 2014 • Issue 1176
Harry calls it a day
PROUDLY INDEPENDENT
Helping hand Mick’s strong dedication to helping sick Sydney kids p.3
Playing with fire
Where there’s smoke, there’s an election: Pollies battle over fire stations CASSANDRA O’CONNOR
Long-serving officer retires p.13
Charity drive goes global p.14
Wanderers face big test Western Sydney must turn form around p.40
@cassandra_o
T
emporary fire station closures is set to be a burning issue in the upcoming NSW election after Labor candidate for Penrith, Emma Husar, raised concerns about Penrith Fire Station being closed during recent hot weather. Ms Husar said that the High Street station was closed “for a number of hours” on Sunday, October 12, a day where temperatures reached over 30 degrees in Penrith. “Early on Sunday morning Penrith Fire Station was closed and taken off line as a result of Liberal Party cost cutting,” she said. “In the meantime, Concord Firefighters were moved to Penrith to cover the closure, meaning that the station was unstaffed for more than an hour in the morning period.” She said that this was repeated in the afternoon, when temperatures climbed into the thirties. A specialist vehicle used to put out fires in highrise buildings and factories was taken out of the system. “With an elevated terrorism level, a high fire danger, combined with increasing temperatures across the state, Stuart Ayres needs to act now and put an end to this reckless policy before lives and properties are lost,” Ms Husar said. “In this calendar year alone we’ve seen local fire stations closed over 30 times.” But Penrith MP and Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Stuart Ayres, said Penrith Fire Station has been closed just 10 times. Story continues on » p. 6
Labor candidate for Penrith, Emma Husar, is concerned about fire station closures. Photo: Melinda Jane
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