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July 2010<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine<br />

History repeats<br />

ISSUE<br />

60


July 2010<br />

Issue No. 60<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> & Rescue is the flagship<br />

publication of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong><br />

<strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong>.<br />

It is produced by Media,<br />

Promotions and Communications,<br />

National Headquarters,<br />

Level 9, 80 The Terrace, Wellington.<br />

Front cover: An aerial pours water on the fire<br />

at Southdown Freezing Works, photo NZPA.<br />

Back cover: One of the more than 400<br />

contestants races up the Sky Tower stairs.<br />

Contributions to <strong>Fire</strong> & Rescue<br />

We welcome ideas for articles, news<br />

and events that would be of interest to<br />

other <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> staff and volunteers.<br />

Draft articles and photos (pictures<br />

need to be at least 1MB) can be<br />

emailed to fire.rescue@fire.org.nz or<br />

contact the editor Karlum Lattimore<br />

on 04 496 3702.<br />

Post written material and photos,<br />

or photo CDs to:<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> & Rescue magazine,<br />

PO Box 2133, Wellington.<br />

(These will be returned on request.)<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> & Rescue is online at:<br />

www.fire.org.nz<br />

ISSN: 1176-6670<br />

All material in <strong>Fire</strong> & Rescue magazine is<br />

copyrighted and may not be reproduced<br />

without the permission of the editor.<br />

11<br />

4<br />

7 9<br />

Promotions Being smokefree saves lives ........................................................3<br />

It pays to advertise ...........................................................................3<br />

<strong>Fire</strong>-side Inside the fire – Southdown revisited .....................................4<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> Safety Re-packaging home fire safety ..................................................6<br />

Moving to long-life smoke alarms ............................................7<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> Insight CSI <strong>Fire</strong> Investigators ........................................................................8<br />

Burn to learn ........................................................................................9<br />

Marae safety taken seriously......................................................9<br />

Truck Update The Type 3 prototype – Back to the Future ...................10<br />

Number 100 now in service ....................................................11<br />

<strong>New</strong> Developments Testing time for gas suits ............................................................12<br />

<strong>New</strong> BA a step closer ..................................................................12<br />

Step-by-step guide to evacuation schemes .....................12<br />

People A couple of minutes with... John Sutherland ....................13<br />

Record-breaking stair climb ......................................................14<br />

Events 2010 Calendar ................................................................................15<br />

NZFI exam applications reminder .......................................15<br />

Martyn Baker’s newborn – Hamish ....................................15<br />

12<br />

14


Being smokefree<br />

saves lives<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine<br />

Promotions<br />

Each year, around 5,000 people die from smoking-related<br />

diseases while burning cigarettes cause 1,150 house fires.<br />

So Auckland <strong>Fire</strong> Region <strong>Fire</strong> Safety Officer, Gary Beer,<br />

joined forces with Harbour Health PHO to take the message<br />

to students at Massey University’s Albany campus for world<br />

Smokefree Day. Flint and Amber show the best way to snuff out a cigarette as part<br />

of a joint effort by the <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> and health agencies to<br />

demonstrate smoking is both a fire hazard<br />

and a health risk.<br />

It pays to advertise<br />

The new hard-hitting <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> television advertisements on the danger of<br />

unattended cooking have struck a real chord with the public.<br />

In our latest Communication Effectiveness<br />

survey almost everyone who<br />

saw the advertisement showing a<br />

fatal kitchen fire remembered it and<br />

got the message. It has been one of<br />

the <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong>’s most effective<br />

advertisements.<br />

The 500 adults surveyed all had<br />

very good recall of the ad and its<br />

messages with four out of 10 saying<br />

it prompted a change in their<br />

behaviour in some way.<br />

Some of the comments included:<br />

It made me think twice about<br />

walking out of the kitchen. It was<br />

quite a shocking one.<br />

I’ll be a bit more aware and careful<br />

if there are people around.<br />

Be more careful in the kitchen and<br />

don’t leave it unattended.<br />

Showing the deadly consequences of<br />

failing to install smoke alarms also<br />

appeared to be a powerful motivator<br />

with one in three saying they had<br />

changed their behaviour in some way.<br />

Some of the comments from those<br />

surveyed were:<br />

Bought new battery for the<br />

smoke detector.<br />

Checked that fire alarms<br />

around the house were<br />

working.<br />

Got batteries for smoke alarms and<br />

put my smoke alarms up again.<br />

More aware of electrical appliances<br />

and make sure that nothing’s left<br />

on that shouldn’t be left on and to<br />

ensure checking of batteries in<br />

smoke alarms regularly.<br />

July 2010<br />

3


<strong>Fire</strong>-side<br />

InsIde the fIre –<br />

southdown revisited<br />

Volunteer and career brigades from throughout the Auckland <strong>Fire</strong> Region experienced a<br />

severe case of déjà vu on 14 May when they turned out to a huge fire at the abandoned<br />

Southdown Freezing Works site at Penrose in Auckland.<br />

It was a 48-hour re-run of a 10-day<br />

fire at the same place in December<br />

2008. Once again it sucked up an<br />

enormous quantity of the region’s fire<br />

fighting and operational support<br />

resources.<br />

Counties Manukau Area Commander,<br />

Kerry Gregory, was one of several<br />

Incident Controllers on duty during<br />

both fires.<br />

“Both fires were campaign fires<br />

which are not something we deal<br />

with very often. Most fires don’t<br />

tie up such a large amount of<br />

Photo: Nick Clifford<br />

4 Issue No. 60<br />

resources for days on end. Campaign<br />

fires have specific challenges. For<br />

instance, there is the huge logistical<br />

task of turning over crews and<br />

bringing in fresh people. You have<br />

to be mindful of maintaining the<br />

coverage that is still needed across<br />

the rest of Auckland. Then there’s<br />

the impact of decontaminating<br />

firefighters who are lost to the fire<br />

ground as their gear is no longer<br />

able to be worn.”<br />

This fire was fought in three stages<br />

and across all four sectors. The first<br />

stage was an aggressive aerial attack<br />

for the initial four or five hours and<br />

then it was contained until morning.<br />

“At daylight we assessed the safety<br />

of the building – part of which had<br />

already collapsed in the previous fire.<br />

We decided to put in an aggressive<br />

internal attack in Sector 1 which we<br />

hadn’t been able to do in the previous<br />

fire because of the danger to crews.<br />

“We also had problems in Sectors 2<br />

and 3 where the aerials couldn’t<br />

penetrate to the burning material<br />

under the rubble so we applied


Class A foam and within 10 minutes<br />

we could see a huge difference.<br />

The foam seeped through the rubble<br />

and penetrated to the areas we were<br />

unable to reach.<br />

“Sector 4 had some internal attack<br />

but we concentrated on cutting off<br />

the fire to prevent it getting into<br />

other buildings,” he said.<br />

By late Saturday the fire was under<br />

control and damping down was<br />

underway. Diggers were used on<br />

Saturday and Sunday to turn over<br />

the rubble allowing the water to do<br />

its job.<br />

“There were a lot of challenges in<br />

these two fires but we learned a lot,”<br />

said Kerry.<br />

Auckland <strong>Fire</strong> Police also made quick<br />

use of the lessons learned in the<br />

20 December 2008 fire. Chief <strong>Fire</strong><br />

Officer, Glenn Teal, says, “We knew<br />

from that first fire that the early<br />

stages would be the busiest so we<br />

tried to mobilise all our resources to<br />

the incident straight way.”<br />

Twenty-eight volunteer operational<br />

support crew responded immediately.<br />

“The Silverdale brigade sent another<br />

six and then late that night and early<br />

next morning more people became<br />

available,” he said.<br />

The <strong>Fire</strong> Police took on traffic and<br />

crowd control, staffed the canteen,<br />

re-commissioned BA, carried out<br />

salvage and supported the command<br />

unit, and drove crews and equipment<br />

between stations and the<br />

fireground.<br />

“There were so many tasks that it<br />

was a constant challenge to keep<br />

track of everyone as people sometimes<br />

got pulled away without us<br />

knowing.”<br />

Kerry Gregory says the operation<br />

was a testament to the teamwork and<br />

combined resources of the many<br />

volunteer and career stations involved<br />

both at the fire and in providing<br />

cover across the rest of Auckland.<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine July 2010<br />

<strong>Fire</strong>-side<br />

fire facts:<br />

southdown freezing Works<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> started 20:08 14 May<br />

Ended 14:52 16 May<br />

Cause: Undetermined<br />

Resources included:<br />

8 Area Commanders<br />

120 firefighters (volunteer and career)<br />

10 volunteer brigades<br />

26 career stations<br />

55 <strong>Fire</strong> Police from throughout<br />

the region<br />

3 <strong>Fire</strong> Safety Officers<br />

7 aerial appliances<br />

37 appliances<br />

1 BA tender<br />

1 canteen<br />

1 ablutions unit<br />

Photo: NZPA<br />

5


<strong>Fire</strong> Safety<br />

re-packaging<br />

home fire safety<br />

The <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> is introducing a national approach to the provision<br />

of home fire safety information and resources.<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Director Strategic<br />

Development, Bill Butzbach, says one<br />

of the organisation’s key priorities<br />

is to reduce the incidence and<br />

consequences of fire. “We have got to<br />

the point where we need to be more<br />

strategic about reaching those who<br />

are most at risk and influencing their<br />

fire-safety behaviours. <strong>Fire</strong>fighters<br />

have a vital role to play in this.”<br />

He said overseas experience, and our<br />

own, shows that getting firefighters<br />

into the homes of families, talking to<br />

them about escape plans and other<br />

fire safety measures, and installing<br />

smoke alarms, is the most effective<br />

way of influencing people and<br />

reducing preventable fires.<br />

“We have been installing smoke<br />

alarms and providing fire safety<br />

advice in people’s homes in various<br />

ways and using a variety of administrative<br />

support tools for many<br />

years. Last year we carried out more<br />

than 11,000 visits. This public<br />

education work will now be delivered<br />

under the new Home <strong>Fire</strong> Safety<br />

Checks brand and it will be done in<br />

a much more focused, supported,<br />

and coordinated manner.”<br />

Home <strong>Fire</strong> Safety Checks targets<br />

only the at-risk groups – particularly<br />

Ma - ori and Pacific people, the elderly,<br />

young children, and others living in<br />

deprived areas. “We have halved the<br />

number of people dying in house<br />

fires over the past decade. However,<br />

people from these at-risk groups are<br />

still those most likely to die or be<br />

injured in a fire.”<br />

The refocused visits will target<br />

deprived neighbourhoods. People will<br />

6 Issue No. 60<br />

Image of the new postcard invitation offering a free home fire safety check.<br />

be offered free home fire safety<br />

checks via a postcard that crews will<br />

drop in their letterboxes. Families<br />

call an 0800 number answered by<br />

Southern Communications Centre to<br />

arrange for a firefighter from their<br />

local fire station to phone and make a<br />

time to visit. The Comcen staff then<br />

enter the task into SMS for that<br />

station. Crews will carry out the fire<br />

safety check, which includes installing<br />

one of the new long-life smoke<br />

alarms, and provide fire safety advice.<br />

A DVD showing firefighters how it<br />

all works has been sent to stations<br />

along with explanatory information.<br />

All resources are ordered online.<br />

See the National Notice for a full list<br />

of resources available.<br />

“The checks are only available to<br />

those who have been specifically<br />

targeted. Members of the general<br />

public who ring the 0800 number<br />

will be sent a fire safety leaflet,<br />

or directed to our website, to help<br />

them set up their own escape plans,<br />

position smoke alarms, and improve<br />

their home fire safety.<br />

Bill believes the improved focus of<br />

our home fire safety work will further<br />

build on the strong bonds of trust the<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> has with <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong>ers.


Moving to long-life<br />

smoke alarms<br />

Long-life photoelectric smoke alarms are now the alarm of choice for the <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> and<br />

will be the only alarms we buy and install in homes once supplies of the standard alarms<br />

have been used up.<br />

The long-life alarms have some huge<br />

advantages. They have a minimum<br />

10 years of life and a sealed battery<br />

compartment so the battery can’t be<br />

removed. They also eliminate the<br />

danger, particularly for elderly<br />

people, of climbing ladders to replace<br />

the batteries. Over the lifetime of the<br />

alarm, it will effectively pay for itself<br />

as owners don’t need to buy replacement<br />

batteries once or twice a year.<br />

National Director of <strong>Fire</strong> Risk<br />

Management, Paula Beever, says,<br />

“We have been able to switch to<br />

long-life photoelectric alarms as<br />

a result of negotiating a very competitive<br />

contract with the supplier.<br />

We will be installing one alarm in<br />

Brooklyn Senior<br />

<strong>Fire</strong>fighters Joel Fraser<br />

(left) and Jason Courtis<br />

check out the new<br />

long-life smoke alarms.<br />

the exit path of each level of the home<br />

and staff are asked to encourage<br />

people to install other long-life or<br />

standard photoelectric alarms as<br />

soon as practicable.<br />

“The message is that we want to<br />

provide a ‘hand up’ to people who<br />

are most at risk of a fire, not provide<br />

a ‘hand out’. We want to help them<br />

understand the dangers of fire so<br />

they can take responsibility for<br />

protecting their families.”<br />

We recommend that people install<br />

photoelectric alarms in every bedroom,<br />

hallway, and living area on<br />

every level of the house. However, we<br />

recognise this is not always practical<br />

or realistic so our advice to the<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> Safety<br />

general public is that at an absolute<br />

minimum, they should install a longlife<br />

photoelectric alarm in the exit<br />

path closest to the bedrooms and add<br />

more as soon as they can, she said.<br />

Staff and volunteers are also<br />

encouraged to promote the installation<br />

of long-life photoelectric<br />

smoke alarms in their community<br />

whenever they have the opportunity.<br />

Our national supplier is <strong>New</strong>field<br />

Marketing and orders are taken via<br />

email through sales@newfield.co.nz<br />

Further information on the policy<br />

can be found in <strong>Fire</strong> Risk Management<br />

Bulletins 2 and 5 on the Intranet<br />

using the Search function.<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine July 2010<br />

7


<strong>Fire</strong> Insight<br />

CsI fire Investigators<br />

By Todd O’Donoghue<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Specialist Investigators recently got a chance<br />

to make up Molotov cocktails and inspect various bombmaking<br />

and incendiary devices in their latest skills<br />

maintenance training.<br />

Today’s investigators need to keep<br />

pace with the information on<br />

incendiary-making and explosives<br />

that is now easily available on the<br />

Internet and being experimented<br />

with by children and arsonists.<br />

We also need to know how incendiary<br />

fires behave, how to read a burn<br />

pattern, identify the residues that are<br />

left behind, know what common<br />

chemicals and equipment might have<br />

been used, and how to carry out<br />

scene examinations using CSI –<br />

Common Sense Investigation. These<br />

investigations will be helped by the<br />

recent introduction of the process<br />

charts held in the new compendiums<br />

on frontline appliances. Meanwhile<br />

new sophisticated equipment such<br />

as personal gas detectors makes<br />

sure we are working in an<br />

environment that is safe to<br />

breathe.<br />

While we are not quite as<br />

high-tech as some of the<br />

fancy television shows, gone<br />

are the days of needing to<br />

suggest Police take a sample<br />

from a scene based purely on<br />

our own smell of something<br />

flammable. Now we can use<br />

the new specifically designed<br />

and calibrated photo<br />

ionisation detectors to ‘sniff’<br />

out the best area to take<br />

samples from.<br />

The latest skills maintenance<br />

road shows in Auckland,<br />

Taupo, Wellington, and<br />

Christchurch during May<br />

gave <strong>Fire</strong> Safety and <strong>Fire</strong><br />

Risk Management staff from Wellington fire safety staff make up a Molotov cocktail. From left: Tony Nightingale, Peter Fox, Stu Law.<br />

8 Issue No. 60<br />

around the country a chance to learn<br />

from other specialists and experiment<br />

firsthand with the materials that<br />

are likely to be used by arsonists and<br />

bomb makers.<br />

This year there were presentations<br />

from an electrical engineer, members<br />

of the Defence Force’s bomb squad,<br />

and some of our own highly skilled<br />

experts. We came out better informed<br />

but also made our own Molotov<br />

cocktails, watched the effect of<br />

different ingredients, and examined<br />

the residues of various other<br />

incendiary devices.<br />

Rest assured, if you have a need to<br />

call us to a fire scene, the skills,<br />

knowledge, and equipment we bring<br />

make us armed and flame-gerous!<br />

Wellington bomb squad member Jez Wright<br />

shows what a simple home-made incendiary<br />

can look like.


Burn to learn<br />

Uncovering the cause of a rural fire can<br />

lead to initiatives that reduce the number<br />

of wildfires.<br />

So, investigating a rural fire takes its own set of<br />

specialist skills.<br />

A course for new wildlife investigators was held recently<br />

in Christchurch and Manager Rural <strong>Fire</strong> Christchurch,<br />

John Barnes, says it was developed for <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong><br />

in cooperation with the United States, Canada, and<br />

Australia wildfire agencies.<br />

“Vegetation fires can often cover a wide area making it<br />

very difficult to find indicators of the path of travel and<br />

the cause. On our courses we set fires in various types of<br />

vegetation to build up our skills. For instance we learn to<br />

read the signs that show which way the fire travelled,<br />

which helps bring us to the area of origin. Witnesses are<br />

obviously also very important to our investigations.”<br />

He says one of the most successful initiatives led to a<br />

remarkable reduction in the hundreds of fires that used<br />

to start alongside railway lines.<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> Insight<br />

“We worked very closely with railway staff and rural<br />

fire authorities to bring in guidelines to cut down on<br />

fires caused by railway operations, i.e. sparks from the<br />

exhaust stack and brakes, mechanical breakdown,<br />

track repairs, and other train operations.”<br />

Marae safety taken seriously<br />

All Te Wha - nau a Apanui iwi marae on the East Coast<br />

have now been surveyed as part of the marae fire safety<br />

programme thanks to the Waihau Bay volunteers.<br />

The iwi has 13 marae from Cape Runaway to Hawai<br />

Bay. It’s the first time an iwi has had all its marae<br />

surveyed and a certificate was recently presented<br />

to the brigade by National Advisor Ma - ori,<br />

Piki Thomas, to recognise their effort.<br />

<strong>Fire</strong> in gorse has its own<br />

peculiarities and those<br />

on a recent wildfire<br />

investigation course in<br />

Christchurch learned<br />

what to look for when<br />

trying to find the cause.<br />

Ma - ori Liaison for the Bay Waikato & Eastern, Lana<br />

Ngawhika, says this engagement would not have been<br />

possible without the Waihau Bay volunteers’ iwi<br />

connections. With their help, marae doors were opened to<br />

Lana. “Together we carried out the surveys and as a result<br />

of our reports some marae are now getting quotes<br />

for hard-wired smoke detectors and sprinklers.”<br />

The visit to Wairuru marae at Raukokore near Waihau Bay.<br />

From left to right: Stuart Robertson (Waihau Bay brigade),<br />

kauma - tua Mac Eruera, Tony Walker (Waihau Bay<br />

brigade), Bill Green (Chief <strong>Fire</strong> Officer of<br />

Waihau Bay brigade).<br />

July 2010<br />

9


Truck Update<br />

the type 3 prototype –<br />

Back to the future<br />

<strong>Fire</strong>fighters are starting to evaluate the prototype rear-mounted Type 3 heavy-pumping<br />

appliance – with Christchurch crews given the first opportunity to test it out.<br />

The prototype, with the pump<br />

mounted on the rear instead of in<br />

the middle of the chassis, was<br />

commissioned because the <strong>Fire</strong><br />

<strong>Service</strong> has had difficulty managing<br />

the weight restrictions on the<br />

front axle of the chassis of the midmount<br />

pump. National Advisor<br />

Operations, John Sutherland, says<br />

<strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> has a 6,000 kg weight<br />

limit on the front axle. “To meet<br />

requirements, we’ve had to remove<br />

some components or transfer them<br />

to the back of the truck.”<br />

The rear-mount is used by European<br />

and Australian fire services and<br />

has greater load-carrying capability<br />

and more locker space, including<br />

large through-lockers, than the midmount.<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> prototype<br />

has a major modification. “We’ve<br />

moved the delivery outlets and feeder<br />

inlets out to either side of the body to<br />

give the pump operator more clear<br />

and safer working space in front of<br />

the pump panel,” said John.<br />

Plenty of room in the side lockers of the rear mount.<br />

10 Issue No. 60<br />

The prototype will spend six months<br />

being tested in Christchurch,<br />

Auckland, and Wellington and<br />

feedback will contribute to the<br />

specification of the next evolution.<br />

John says Christchurch City Station<br />

did the fit out of the prototype in less<br />

than a week. “I was just stunned by<br />

how quickly the appliance was<br />

commissioned,” he said.<br />

Christchurch City Station Officer,<br />

Steve Warner, has been taking part in<br />

the evaluation and says so far it has<br />

gone well and the crews are happy<br />

with the changed configuration<br />

and performance.<br />

“We’re using it as the first running<br />

appliance out of the station, which is<br />

one of the busiest appliances in the<br />

country. The additional locker space<br />

is very useful and lets us lay out the<br />

equipment in ways that make it more<br />

accessible. The pump is good to use<br />

and the driving is the same as the<br />

current Scanias,” he said.<br />

The major difference is that crews<br />

now have to site the appliance past<br />

the fire and with its rear toward the<br />

fire – so the pump operator is better<br />

protected from traffic. This also<br />

gives better access to the deliveries.<br />

“For some situations, this is better<br />

protection than the mid-mount –<br />

which left the operator more exposed<br />

if the fire was on the right hand side<br />

of the road.”<br />

There’s a sense of déjà vu for Steve.<br />

“Back when I first joined the <strong>Fire</strong><br />

<strong>Service</strong> we used rear-mount appliances<br />

and over the years changed to the<br />

American-designed mid-mounts.”<br />

He says the extra locker space would<br />

be particularly useful in its PRT<br />

(pump rescue tender) configuration –<br />

allowing much more weight to be<br />

carried than the mid-mount appliance<br />

can tolerate.<br />

John Sutherland says the final<br />

assessment and design should be<br />

known by the end of the year.<br />

Rear mount showing the inlets and outlets.


The Levin brigade turns out in force<br />

to receive its new truck. Among<br />

those at the event were the Minister<br />

of Internal Affairs Nathan Guy,<br />

National Commander Mike Hall and<br />

Region Manager Trevor Brown.<br />

number 100 now in service<br />

The 100 th Iveco fire appliance has now joined the fleet.<br />

When the Levin Volunteer <strong>Fire</strong><br />

Brigade recently took possession of<br />

its new Type 2 Iveco appliance an<br />

Australasian representative of Iveco<br />

was there to help celebrate its arrival.<br />

The Iveco Type 2 is a <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong><br />

workhorse – suited particularly to<br />

small towns and rural areas where<br />

the fires are largely in one- and twostorey<br />

buildings and where there is<br />

strong demand for rescue work.<br />

There’ve been some modifications<br />

and a facelift for the truck since it<br />

was first introduced five years ago<br />

and Iveco’s Senior Product Planning<br />

Manager, Marco Quaranta, says we<br />

can expect to see some more changes<br />

in the next few years.<br />

“The biggest changes will be to<br />

further reduce our impact on the<br />

environment,” he said. Increasingly<br />

high emissions standards are being<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine<br />

introduced in Europe with Euro 6<br />

taking effect in three or four years.<br />

Marco says Iveco engineers are<br />

working on ways to combine two<br />

technologies that will provide<br />

lower emissions – EGR (exhaust<br />

gas re-circulation) and SCR<br />

(selective catalytic reduction).<br />

“The result will change the shape<br />

of our trucks because adding<br />

more technology means the<br />

engine gets hotter and needs<br />

more cooling so you need a<br />

bigger cab to contain it all.”<br />

Looking further into the future,<br />

Marco predicts that more trucks will<br />

be using alternative fuels and storing<br />

energy from the sun, or hydraulic<br />

pressure.<br />

“<strong>Fire</strong> engines are stationary for a<br />

long time and need fast acceleration<br />

so I think in 10 or 20 years’ time you<br />

Truck Update<br />

Iveco’s Marco Quaranta<br />

is presented with a firefighter’s helmet by<br />

Levin Chief <strong>Fire</strong> Officer Lindsay Walker.<br />

may be using a hydraulic/hybrid<br />

drive cylinder which compresses oil<br />

to create energy.”<br />

Marco says Iveco is already testing<br />

a prototype in a rubbish truck in<br />

Australia.<br />

July 2010<br />

11


<strong>New</strong> Developments<br />

Testing time for gas suits<br />

Bigger is better according to the Nelson firefighters who<br />

recently tried out the new generation of gas suits.<br />

Two makes of the limited-life suits<br />

are being evaluated and the choice<br />

will be made later this year. They will<br />

replace the much more expensive<br />

long-life suits that are nearing the<br />

end of their lives.<br />

In Nelson, half a dozen firefighters<br />

took the suits through their paces,<br />

trialling them in a Large and Extra<br />

Large size.<br />

The unexpected verdict was that the<br />

bigger size felt better. It seemed less<br />

claustrophobic and allowed the<br />

wearer to use their arms and hands<br />

inside the suit – to check their BA<br />

gear, wipe away moisture inside the<br />

face plate and so on.<br />

“These suits are all designed to be<br />

worn five times in practice but to<br />

<strong>New</strong> BA a<br />

step closer<br />

A national trial of the next generation<br />

of breathing apparatus will begin<br />

shortly.<br />

National Plant and Equipment Manager,<br />

Rob McMahon, said. “Tenders have<br />

come in from all the major players in<br />

this part of the world and are going<br />

through a desktop evaluation. The team<br />

is also examining the sample sets that<br />

have been supplied.”<br />

BA from the shortlist of preferred<br />

suppliers will go through a six-<br />

month operational trial starting in July.<br />

It will involve paid and volunteer firefighters<br />

from throughout the regions<br />

to ensure it is as comprehensive as we<br />

can make it, said Rob.<br />

The NZPFU and the UFBA are closely<br />

involved in the project.<br />

12 Issue No. 60<br />

be used just once in a real situation<br />

where they are contaminated. The<br />

boots also have the same limited<br />

life,” said Jon Graham who is part<br />

of the project evaluation team.<br />

Above: Chubb suit.<br />

Left: Smaller size of the Draeger suit.<br />

The evaluation exercise involved<br />

personnel donning the equipment,<br />

carrying out activities similar to those<br />

in a spill scenario, and completing a<br />

number of physical exercises such as<br />

stair climbs, crawling, and lifting.<br />

Step-by-step guide to<br />

evacuation schemes<br />

Just about everything the <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> and the public need to<br />

know about evacuation schemes has now been revised, updated,<br />

streamlined, and put on our website www.evaconline.fire.org.nz<br />

Most buildings in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> (other than private homes) need<br />

an evacuation procedure and many of these must be developed<br />

as evacuation schemes and approved by the <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong>.<br />

The website is the one-stop-shop for information for the public<br />

and our staff. It now includes a comprehensive new guide to<br />

making an evacuation scheme application and this should be<br />

used by <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> personnel when they are giving advice<br />

to the public.<br />

Evaconline also has the scheme approval application form and<br />

helpful examples of completed applications for commonly<br />

needed schemes (e.g. a rest home and an early childhood centre).<br />

More examples will be added later as needed.<br />

Any queries or comments in relation to the Guide should<br />

be directed to Alan Merry, Principal Advisor <strong>Fire</strong> Risk<br />

Management, NHQ.


A couple of minutes with...<br />

John Sutherland<br />

Where are you stationed?<br />

National Headquarters – Wellington<br />

What’s your title?<br />

National Advisor Operations. I’m responsible<br />

for operational input into national projects<br />

involving fleet and equipment. Also provide<br />

advice on national operational issues and policy<br />

and procedures.<br />

What’s been your progression within the<br />

NZFS over the past 25 years?<br />

SO Tauranga, SSO Hawkes Bay, 2004 seconded<br />

to NHQ, 2006 present permanent position.<br />

Family?<br />

Married 39 years, three children,<br />

two grandchildren, one grand puppy.<br />

What’s the one thing that sticks in your mind<br />

about the job?<br />

Those first five years in Dunedin from 1970 when<br />

the brigade doubled in size. It was the best job for<br />

a young man in the world – 40 years on it still is.<br />

If you could make one change to the <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong><br />

what would it be?<br />

That the whole organisation was more receptive<br />

to change.<br />

Your most embarrassing moment on the job?<br />

Breaking down the front door of my first person’s<br />

reported house fire as OIC 1973 – it was later<br />

found that the door was not locked.<br />

What’s one thing people would be surprised to<br />

learn about you?<br />

I once had a full head of hair.<br />

Favourite book? Forgotten Soldier – Guy Sayer<br />

Favourite recent movie? The Visitor<br />

Favourite TV show? Band of Brothers<br />

Favourite music group? Bob Dylan<br />

Favourite sport? Motor sport<br />

Favourite holiday destination? Byron Bay NSW<br />

If I wasn’t in the <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> I’d be? An engineer<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine July 2010<br />

People<br />

13


People<br />

record-breaking stair climb<br />

Paul Gerritsen, the fastest man in the Sky Tower Challenge 2010 was running out of air<br />

when he hit the top and says his whistle had started blowing at about the 30 th floor.<br />

“Breathing was a real struggle and for the last 10 floors I<br />

was sucking so hard it felt like I was holding my breath,”<br />

he said.<br />

Paul is on eight months’ leave from Remuera station while<br />

he trains and prepares for this year’s World Rowing<br />

Championships in November. He’s a member of the<br />

national men’s quad team.<br />

He says the rowing training helped but it was his previous<br />

experience in the stair climb that really made the difference.<br />

“I learned you really have to pace yourself and run the<br />

whole way up, not sprint the first 10 flights or so as that<br />

just leaves you drained,” he said.<br />

Paul made it to the top 30 seconds faster than he did on his<br />

first attempt last year and broke the record with his time<br />

of 9 minutes 35 seconds.<br />

First-timer Erin Gray from the Queenstown Volunteer <strong>Fire</strong><br />

Brigade was fastest woman at 13 minutes 28 seconds,<br />

beating the 2009 time by more than one minute.<br />

Erin walked fast and steadily up the stairs “Physically,<br />

I couldn’t have run – the gear I was wearing weighed<br />

about half as much as I do!”<br />

Her training included running up the stairs at a local<br />

reserve – which she had to climb up and down 16 times<br />

to come close to the distance of the Sky Tower.<br />

14 Issue No. 60<br />

“I found the training harder than the actual event.<br />

When I got to the top of the Sky Tower I couldn’t<br />

believe it was over so quickly.”<br />

Pahia’s Volunteer Brigade once again claimed the<br />

fundraising trophy, for the fifth consecutive year,<br />

raising $24,000 of the $193,000 raised for the<br />

Leukemia and Blood Foundation.<br />

Left: Fastest Man, Paul Gerritsen, Remuera Blue Watch.<br />

Right: Fastest Woman, Erin Gray, Queenstown VFB.


2010<br />

Events Events<br />

Calendar Calendar<br />

July 17th–18th<br />

national snooker<br />

tournament<br />

Hawera<br />

Colin.dudley@fire.org.nz<br />

August 29th<br />

Wellington Prov Indoor<br />

Bowls tournament<br />

Wellington<br />

denchy@xtra.co.nz<br />

september 11th<br />

taranaki toughest<br />

firefighter Around the<br />

Mountain<br />

Oakura<br />

da-rielly@hotmail.com<br />

06 752 7302<br />

July 18th<br />

Wellington Provincial f/B<br />

Golf tournament<br />

Feilding Golf Club<br />

Warren.Dunn@fire.org.nz<br />

september 3rd–4th<br />

nZfs national rugby<br />

tournament<br />

Auckland<br />

james.hall@fire.org.nz<br />

021 0237 4301<br />

October<br />

sports Council<br />

regional sports<br />

committee meetings<br />

In your area<br />

Contact your regional sports<br />

council rep for more details<br />

August 8th<br />

Wellington Provincial f/B<br />

driving Challenge<br />

Mansfield Raceway<br />

Feilding<br />

denchy@xtra.co.nz<br />

september 4th<br />

UfBA driving Challenge<br />

Manfield<br />

Contact Anthony Dench<br />

denchy@xtra.co.nz<br />

October 2nd–3rd<br />

national Basketball<br />

tournament<br />

Napier<br />

francis.reid@fire.org.nz<br />

August 18th–20th<br />

nZfs national ski &<br />

snowboard Championship<br />

Ohakune<br />

ohakune@fire.org.nz<br />

karen.hawke@yahoo.co.nz<br />

september 6th<br />

national trout fishing<br />

tournament<br />

Turangi<br />

jim.prescott@fire.org.nz<br />

October 11th–15th<br />

national Golf<br />

tournament<br />

Whangarei<br />

Mike.Lister@fire.org.nz<br />

For the latest information on <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> sports events go to: firenet/sports/upcomingsportsevents<br />

REMINDER<br />

<strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> Brigades Institute<br />

Applications to sit exams must be received by<br />

1 August 2010.<br />

Further information and an application form can be<br />

downloaded from our website:<br />

http://www.ufba.org.nz/nzfbi/exams/downloads.php<br />

The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine<br />

from our ‘101 uses for a helmet’ file: Parnell Blue<br />

Watch Station Officer, Martyn Baker’s newborn – Hamish.<br />

July 2010<br />

Events<br />

15


The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Zealand</strong> <strong>Fire</strong> <strong>Service</strong> Magazine<br />

Published July 2010<br />

By the new <strong>Zealand</strong> fire service<br />

Media, Promotions & Communications<br />

National Headquarters, Wellington<br />

www.fire.org.nz

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