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4issuesissuesissuesthe obvious requirement for reform, perhapsvollies need to take advice on becomingpolitically active at a local level over what thepublic expects and what the public is actuallyprepared to pay for ?Is this something the UFBA could co-ordinate?There would need to be a common message,but a groundswell of opinion may be themuscle a new Minister neeeds to kick inseveral closed doors.Five key issuesFive key issues need to be addressed to putNew Zealand’s fire service on a sound footing,according to the Fire Service Commission.Briefing new Minister Amy Adams, the FSCsaid those issues were:1. Updating the legislation as the 1975Act is increasingly out of date.2. Mandating the wider “all hazards”emergency service role of the NZFS.3. Reforming the funding base – theindemnity value insurance base is subject toavoidance and forecast deficits need to beaddressed.4. Bringing urban fire and rural fireservices closer together.5. Sustaining and supportingvolunteerism.Повышение !When firefighters reach the top of the SkyTower next month, they might take a fewseconds to think of Moscow firefighters whorecently had to do quite a few more steps,and carrying gear.Fire broke on the 65th floor of a skyscraperunder construction and because there wereno lifts working in the unfinished building,the Muscovites took a deep breath and madethe big trip to 250 metres above ground level.Helicopters were bought in three hours afterthe blaze broke out because the firefightersA touch of classPeugeot developed this H2O concept fuelcell fire engine for reconnaissance in areaswithin towns and cities that are difficult forlarge vehicles to access.To allow the H2O to continue to operate insituations where visibility might be severelyreduced due to smoke, the vehicle is fittedwith proximity sensors in the bumpers and aradar system incorporated in the front panel.The stylish appearance of the Peugeot H2Obelies the fact that it is a fully operational firefightingvehicle. Although it has never goneinto production, the two concept modelshave been used in the Chunnel.A great second truck for volunteer stations?K1couldn’t get above the blaze from whichflames were leaping high into the night sky,illuminating the surrounding city.The building will eventually be Europe’stallest tower at 360 metres plus a mastanother 200 metres above that.As all well-read firefighters will know,Повышение is Russian for “going up” !
Retaining volunteers:What are wereally afraid of ?by Ian KingMuch as been made recently of the troublevolunteer organisations worldwide, andin particular fire services, are having inrecruiting new volunteers and retaining theexisting.In our organisation, volunteer sustainabilitysurveys recently done seem to now point tovolunteers needing some form of financialsupport to continue to belong. The currentpush is for indirect financial support, ratherthan any true ‘retained’ system as used inmost of Australia, all of United Kingdomand much of Canada, whereby volunteerfirefighters receive small payments forbelonging and attending.Sometime ago I visited the city of Griffith inNSW. This city, which is fairly remote fromother towns, had a population at the time ofjust over 20,000 people making it bigger thansome of our larger towns such as Blenheim orLevin, that rely on volunteer firefighters. Thisstation has a rescue pump and a tanker, and astaff of Captain and 12 firefighters.What I hear you say – only 12? Yes, but thisis more than enough for their needs as thetwo trucks they have can be crewed withsix – four on pump and two on tanker – andthis effectively gives them two alternativecrews (2 x 6). They can sustain this becauseit is a retained station, as all are in NSWoutside of the big cities. Firefighters are paida retainer to belong and a turnout fee foreach response and training session attended.Therefore, those that are there, are almostalways available and keen to respond andattend training.What I am getting at is that with this system,you get a much more committed core ofstaff, while often smaller in numbers. I amsure most volunteer chiefs would rather havea dozen committed and available staff than30-40 in their brigade who waver betweenattending calls and training sessions.While on a fire service exchange in Canada,I experienced the same thing in a numberof towns with volunteer fire departments– small rosters of staff dedicated andcommitted to attending all fire servicematters, because of the stipend (retainer)they were paid.Now you see her ...All that briefing the Fire ServiceCommission did for new Minister AmyAdams will now have to be repeated foreven newer Minister of Internal Affairs ChrisTremain, who became our Minister in thelatest reshuffle as we went to press. Perhapsthey could just refer him to the Firenetwebsite and save on paper!April 2012So what is it we are afraid of? I guess theorganisation is afraid of the perceived extracosts, but what of the cost of a non-response?• What of the cost reduction when atwo pump station may only need 16 staffinstead of 30 – 40?• What of the cost of reduction ofbrigade grants to compensate?• What of the cost reduction inuniforms and protective clothing?• More pointedly, what especiallyabout training course attendance/loss ofwages costs for those 12 –16 as against 30 –40?Historically, many volunteer firefighters havesaid they don’t want to be paid, but was thatcurrent staff, or those that joined during adifferent era. Many are now struggling tocommit (especially the self-employed) andthese often make up a large percentage ofbrigade members. Support from employersfor response in working hours has declineddue to not wanting to pay absent staff.But I really wonder if it is the ‘hidden factors’that are really putting firefighters, especiallythe older, longer-serving ones, off pushing fora retained system. These include the fear thatbeing paid by the NZFS will mean volunteershave more standards demanded of them:for attendance, fitness, health, compulsorytraining attendance, etc. And while this maywell turn out to be the case, what is wrongwith having good standards of training,fitness and commitment as a volunteerfirefighter? Retained firefighters I have metand spoken to in Canada, Australia andUnited Kingdom certainly don’t echo thosefears?5issuesissuesissues
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Page 13 and 14: New rulesby mid-year13STREAMLIGHT W

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