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So after a long hard day of chainsawing and moving logs in the bush we were all just about to head home for the day, some of us already had, when the chorus of pagers went off. Mt. Forbes 41 were on scene at a grass fire along the Cunningham Highway at Willowbank and requesting additional resources. All available crews and appliances turned out – Chucka, Bull & Myself brought up the rear with 52.

Upon arrival we discovered a couple of hectares well alight and a few appliances already on scene including urban pumper from Karana Downs, 644A, in action – property protection. We quickly joined the mix and within a short period of time the fire was knocked down.

The cause of the fire then became apparent. A wheel had come off a towed trailer, the chassis being dragged along the highway for some distance. The resulting sparks ignited a fire on the side of the roadway which quickly swept up the hillside.

After a thorough inspection of the blackened out edge, we filled up what little water we used and called it a day.

On Sunday afternoon a reasonably small fire, a couple of hectares, started up in difficult terrain along Redbank Plains Rd at Redbank Plains. Ripley Valley RFB was called to assist the urban crew from Bundamba, 643A.

After a brief size up with consideration to the conditions the initial plan was to contain the fire into a larger area using backburning however after winds settled a bit a more direct attack was chosen and after a couple of hours of cleaning up the edge and monitoring all units headed home.

The state firefighter championships was recently held at Limestone Park in Ipswich. The events take place over three days and include a large safety expo in addition to the the firefighter championships. The winner runner up and third place getter will now compete in the Australasian competitions to be held in October at Rotorua, New Zealand.

1st    Monto
2nd    Caboolture
3rd    Kilcoy
 
Champion Firefighter    Steve Avis
 

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Safety Expo   Competition Day 1   Competition Day 2

Over the weekend of 20th and 21st June the 2009 South East Region Firefighter championships were held at Limestone Park in Ipswich with the winning teams competing against other regions in the State championships to be held in a few weeks.

 
1st    Mt Tamborine
2nd    Marburg
3rd    Laidley
 
Champion Firefighter    Danny Edser
 

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Day 1   Day 2

Just prior to 5pm today crews were called to multiple reports of a house on fire in Gilingham St Woolloongabba. The Queenslander was well involved upon arrival and crews went into immediate action protecting exposures. A 2nd alarm was called with multiple appliances, control vehicle and senior officers responding. The fire was eventually brought under control and investigations continue as to the cause of the blaze.

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At approx 1pm fire crews were called to reports of a fire in the new bar of the Norman Hotel at Woolloongabba. On arrival a section of the hotel was well involved and a second alarm was called. Crews quickly went into action bringing the fire under control and preventing it spreading to the older historic part of the structure, which suffered smoke and water damage only. The bottle shop and beer garden however were destroyed. Initial reports indicate sparks from a grinder ignited a stack of polystyrene boxes in an area under construction. One worker was transported to hospital with minor burns.

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Recently I had the opportunity to watch some live fire training at the Live Fire Campus, part of the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy at Whyte Island. On this day a scenario was being conducted for Station Officers undergoing a tactical management course involving a MVC at petrol station with large fuel spill + nearby gas cylinders and storage tanks. Known as Armageddon because the participants get everything thrown at them.

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At about 1pm fire broke out in metal scrapyard at Rocklea. A 4th alarm was called with over ten appliances and specialist vehicles eventually on scene. Just working down the road I managed to get at the incident pretty quickly. There were no appliances around the rear when I arrived and after a short while the owner used his dozer to begin knocking down the fences. Crews then began attacking from the rear of the scrapyard.

Helitack 671 was brought in for observation only.

Although the incident was going to be quite protracted I had to leave shortly after to get back to work etc.

See Matt Hayes’ Website – Firecall for some shots later in the evening.

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At about 2.30pm firefighters were called to Overend St East Brisbane and upon arrival found a house well involved. A number of crews concentrated their efforts on protecting the houses on either side (exposures) both of which sustained fire damage to their roofs. The house were the blaze originated was destroyed. All of the buildings were unoccupied at the time.

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