FirePhotography.net

Just a few pics and some video of the guys from Ripley Valley and Pine Mountain doing our Level II chainsaw certificates.. Nice job!

( And, no – that tree isn’t hung up, its falling – just the fast shutter speed doesn’t show it. )

 

 

Recently South East Queensland was lashed by a severe storm front which left the normally leafy Brisbane suburb of The Gap a declared disaster area. On Monday our two medium attack appliances RV51 & RV52 were sent to assist with initial relief efforts. Due to the scale of the disaster the work was door-to-door, conducting initial emergency assessments in order to direct resources to the critically affected areas.

 

The crews were presented with a variety of challenges including major communications issues with no mobile phones or power and problems with VHF radio reception. The most serious issues had to be relayed back to the Incident Commander via the Brisbane Firecom.

 

Many structures were extensively damaged and people found in a what can only be described as a shell shocked state staring out of wide open roofs, seeking some assistance and comfort from someone, anyone. For many of these people the arrival of Ripley Valley crews was their first encounter with Emergency services. They did the best they could under the circumstances, which was exceptional.

 

 

On Tuesday a plan was put in action and a rapid two day strike force was assembled for Wednesday morning. At this point I was to join the relief efforts so began preparing myself for the days ahead.

 

 

On Wednesday we rolled out with the two medium attack RV51 & RV52 along with command & control vehicle RV91. John Squirt and Myself in RV52. We made our way to the SES arana hills staging area for the morning briefing. We were assigned to Bravo Sector with Brookfield & Gatton and after a quick coffee we began heading out to see what we would encounter.

 

Coming into the Gap the scenery changes dramatically. One minute you are in leafy suburbs of Brisbane and then the next what can only be described as near-cyclone devastation. All the trees on the nearby mountainside have been virtually stripped. Making our way around the streets was a challenge in itself.

 

 

With more storms predicted for later in the day we quickly set to work door to door identifying any houses that required tarping passing this information on to the SES and any houses which had trees on them basically clear a path for the SES to come through. Many people we encountered were still noticeably distressed. Some areas were getting power back on but most were still without power and now talk of a potentially contaminated water supply, they were extremely grateful for our presence.

 

 

It was great to see so many organisations on the ground all working together and helping each other out. SES, BCC, Army, QFRS, DNR, RoadTek, Energex. Crews had come from far and wide. There were RFS crews from Gin Gin, Stanthorpe, Warwick and I even saw an SES crew from Hornsby, in North Sydney!

 

Sometimes the streets were so busy alternate routes, and then alternate-alternate routes had to be found just to get from street to street. It seemed like every bobcat dumptruck and cherry picker in South East Queensland had descended on The Gap.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a moment when the Australia Post delivery motorbike came around, and I thought, you know for a brief few seconds, you could almost imagine you weren’t in a scene of absolute destruction. Like today was like any other regular day.

 

 

 

 

The reality was the damage was everywhere. Nothing was spared.

 

 

We did what we could and helped where we could. Later in the day we teamed up with a couple of guys from NRW (Dept of Natural Resources & Water) . Coming from Stradbroke Is doing forestry & fire management they brought out the big boys chainsaws After a long day we all headed back to the Arana Hills staging area for a debrief.

 

 

Ripley Valley relaxing at the end of the day.