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Fire-Fighter of the year 18/7/10 The Fire-Fighter of the year award for 2010 was presented at the Annual Dinner which this year was held at the Southern Districts Working Man Club at Morphett Vale. The event was attended by approximately 70 current and former members of the brigade. This year the award was presented to Nicola Bridges for her outstanding commitment to brigade through attendance at Training, Fire-Calls, Public Relation Events and her willing participation in the training of the Morphett Vale and Seaford CFS Cadets. Her positive 'can-do' attitude also reflects her willingness to get in and get the job done without hesitation. Nicola is a very deserving winner of this award and is congratulated by all members on her achievement. Lieutenant Matt Bonser was also presented with his National Service Medal, this medal recognises long and diligent service by members of recognised organisations that help the community during times of crisis.
Fires one week - floods the next for the Morphett Vale CFS 7/3/10
Last weekend the volunteers of the Morphett
Vale brigade were extinguishing a series of grass fires and dealing with
a number of trees that had been blown down in extremely windy
conditions, this weekend they have been called to deal with multiple
flooding incidents.
Wild winds last Saturday night and Sunday resulted in a number of trees down on roads, CFS crews using chainsaws removed the trees and made the area safe. Sunday morning the brigade was called to assist the Metropolitan Fire Service at Lonsdale with a grass fire that was spreading into factories. Morphett Vale quickly responded their 24 and 14 vehicle and worked to contain the grass fire to a paddock, as well as sending in firefighters in Breathing Apparatus (B.A.) to assist in extinguishing the structure fire. Throughout the incident a number of chemicals were found at the premises and the incident was soon declared a HAZMAT scene. Shortly after returning back to station on Sunday afternoon, the brigade was responded to a report of a grass and scrub fire in the Hardy's Scrub National Park, near Blewitt Springs. Morphett Vale 14 and 24 responded to this incident. The fire was contained to approximately 1 hectare of scrub and the Morphett Vale appliances were released. As Morphett Vale 24 was returning into station another report of a scrub fire was received on Blewitt Springs road at Mclaren Flat. Again Morphett Vale 24 and 14 responded to this incident and found a large scrub fire burning under strong winds towards a house. Further CFS appliances and fire-fighting aircraft were responded to eventually contained the fire to 12 hectares. Morphett Vale CFS volunteers were released from this incident at around 2200 hours and returned to station for some much needed rest. Local crews were back out on the fire-ground at 0800 the next morning to take over from the night shift crews and remained on scene until the fire was declared safe at 2000 hours on Monday night. A further patrol was carried out by the Morphett Vale crews on Tuesday who extinguished a number of hotspots.
After a quiet week the Morphett Vale brigade was again called upon late on Saturday afternoon with a very heavy downpour of rain causing serious flooding throughout the Morphett Vale, Woodcroft and Reynella areas. Multiple reports of flooded houses were received and all of the Morphett Vale appliances as well as appliances from the Happy Valley and Seaford CFS brigades assisted in the cleanup. In the worst incident, 12 shops and the mall at the Woodcroft Town Centre Shopping Centre suffered significant flood damage with approximately 15 Morphett Vale CFS volunteers spending a number of hours on this job alone cleaning up. In all the Morphett Vale brigade dealt with 10 flood related incidents and a vehicle accident on Saturday night, with volunteers finally heading home at around 0200 hours.
Busy time for the volunteers at the Morphett Vale CFS 18/2/10
The past few months have seen the volunteers
from the Morphett Vale CFS brigade put in some long hours in response to
a number of large rural fires.
Although rural fires are expected in the Summer months, the frequency and location of some of the recent incidents have tested our crews who have worked in extreme conditions and some very difficult terrain. Some of the more notable recent incidents include;
As well as providing fire-fighters, the Morphett Vale CFS volunteers are regularly required to assist in the radio room or as part of the Incident Management Team located within the Operations room at Mawson Base (Morphett Vale Fire Station). Our volunteers are also regularly utilised in Logistics functions such as transporting food and water to the fire-ground for large incidents. Rapid Bay Fire
Delamere Fire
Onkaparinga Gorge Fire
2009 Recruit Squad Graduates 28/9/08
On Wednesday the 26th of August eleven
members of the 2009 Morphett Vale CFS recruit squad celebrated the
completion of their training by putting on a demonstration of their
skills to an eager crowd of family and friends.
Approximately 70 people attended the event and watched as the recruits demonstrated the skills they had learnt in their training over the last three months. It also gave those visiting the fire station for the first time the chance to have a look at the place where their loved ones have been spending so much time. The guests were given the opportunity to have a look at the equipment carried on the fire appliances as well as the chance to have a go at operating various fire hoses. The evening culminated in a demonstration of the tactics and techniques involved in extinguishing a vehicle fire, this drill also gave the opportunity for the recruits to put their training to the test on a real fire. Fortunately the well trained recruits were able to remember everything they had been taught and had extinguished the fire very quickly. Within 24 hours of graduating some of the new fire-fighters had already attended a second alarm structure fire at Seaford and a vehicle accident at Woodcroft.
Awards presented at Brigade Dinner 13/7/09 The Morphett Vale CFS Annual Dinner was held on Saturday the 11th of July at the Thaxted Golf Club. More than 70 past and present members attended the event and took the opportunity to let their hair down and have an enjoyable evening. A number of awards were presented on the night including the 'Fire Fighter Of The Year' which was awarded to fire-fighter John Hoskins. John has only been in the Morphett Vale brigade for a short time but his commitment to training, firecalls, equipment maintenance and other duties made him a very worthy recipient. National Medal clasps were awarded to long serving CFS volunteers, with ex-captain Trevor Finney receiving a first clasp for 25 years service as well as current Mawson Group Officer Peter Venning and ex-captain David Blowes each receiving a second clasp for 35 years of service. Long serving Morphett Vale CFS member Todd Harris was recognised and thanked for his commitment and dedication to the brigade. Todd joined the Morphett Vale brigade in 1991 and has held a number of positions including taking on the role of Brigade Captain, he has since moved to the McLaren Flat brigade and currently holds the position of Mawson Deputy Group Officer. As a token of our appreciation, all Brigade Captains from the past 25 years were also presented with a small gift as a recognition for their outstanding leadership to the Morphett Vale brigade.
CFS water saving scheme commissioned 7/7/09 Saturday 3rd July saw local member of Parliament Leon Bignell formally commission a recently completed rainwater retention system installed at the Morphett Vale Country Fire Service (CFS) Station. With financial assistance from the Country Fire Service, the Mawson CFS Group were able to complete a project that involved the Clarendon, McLaren Flat and Morphett Vale Fire Stations. Tanks with a capacity of 5000 litres were installed at the McLaren Flat and Clarendon Fire Stations for the purposes of collecting rainwater and re-using it for training and fire fighting purposes. Work at the Morphett Vale Fire Station took into consideration benefits also to the Hackham Sports and Social Club, which co-share the premises with the CFS. A system now exists to capture rainwater from the fire station roof and deliver it into a 22,000 litre and a 5,000 litre rainwater tank below. This system now enables the Sports Club to utilise rainwater for their shower facilities both during the winter and summer months. The CFS benefit by having an onsite water supply, which can be utilised for training and then pumped back into one of the tanks to aid in conserving our valuable water. This water is also available for fire fighting purposes if required. Project Manager Ian Taverner said “This project now enables the CFS and the Hackham Community Sports and Social Club to play a greater role in conserving and re-using our rainwater. Fire fighters can now train with water, knowing that it is not coming from the limited supply in the River Murray” He also said “It also provides the sporting organisations that operate from the Hackham Community Sport and Social Club with a constant supply or rainwater for use within their change rooms, this will be used in the showers and toilets, thereby further reducing the amount of water used from the SA Water network” Special thanks must go to the Project Manager Ian Tavener (Mawson Deputy Group Officer) who spent many hours ensuring this special initiative was completed on time and on budget.
Local member of Parliament Leon Bignell is seen with (L-R) Simon Skuce of Morphett Vale CFS, Ian Tavener from the Mawson CFS Group and Larraine Donaghay from the Hackham Sports and Social Club testing the rainwater retention system Severe storm hits southern suburbs 3/7/09 The final day of the 08/09 financial year proved to be one of the busiest for the Mawson CFS Group, after a severe storm struck the southern suburbs of Adelaide. Winds of over 100kph and heavy rain moved in from the west shortly after 10:30 am on Tuesday the 30th of June causing a large amount of damage in the Happy Valley, Aberfoyle Park and Chandlers Hill suburbs. The Happy Valley CFS brigade and local SES units were first responded to trees down on the road and houses just after the storm hit, however it soon became apparent that a much larger response would be required and the whole of the Mawson CFS Group was soon responding to storm damage related incidents. CFS crews worked in extreme weather conditions all day, clearing trees from roads and securing damaged buildings. Excellent cooperation between the CFS and SES resulted in the CFS crews completing over 70 incidents throughout the day. It was a busy day to end what had been an average fire season, with the Morphett Vale brigade responding to a total of 420 incidents for the year.
2009 Recruit squad begin training 28/5/09 Last night saw the recruit squad for 2009 begin their training within the brigade. A mixture of excitement and anticipation filled the room as the recruits were sized up and issued their personnel protective equipment. This years recruit squad includes 11 enthusiastic people keen to learn the skill of firefighting and eager to become involved in the Morphett Vale CFS brigade. They will attend regular training on Monday nights, as well as a recruit training session held every Wednesday night for the first three months. The recruit training program includes sessions on;
The in house training program is a pathway to the successful completion of the Basic Firefighter 1 course which will be held later in the year.
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