More to this job than just putting out fires
FNQ QFES CALL-OUTS 2015 2016 2017
FIRIES are spending more time switching off alarms than fighting fires.
A Far Northern firefighter is more likely to go to car crashes and unwanted alarm activations before a fire.
Figures from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services show officers were almost twice as likely to be called to an unnecessarily screeching smoke alarm rather than a bushfire last year. Calls to assist other agencies, including helping paramedics lift heavy patients, is also on the rise, along with prank calls and swift-water rescues.
Structure fires, which in- cludes homes or businesses, ranked as the ninth most common call-out.
QFES’s Far North acting Chief Supt Eddie Lacko said community and school programs to educate people about house fires had driven down the number of structure fires.
“Our target is still zero though in relation to fires,” he said.
He agreed their core business had been changing over the past few years and there was significant training for officers about freeing people from crashed cars.
“A term we use is called the ‘golden hour’, especially when people are entrapped on their legs,” he said.
“With the advancement in technology in vehicles ... it’s about our learning and understanding of cars.”
The region’s specialist crash rescue team is among the most efficient in the country.
The Cairns fire station at Manunda ranks as the third busiest in the state, behind Roma St and Kemp Pl in the Brisbane CBD.
The Cairns CBD and Cairns North made up for almost a fifth of the 5158 call-outs around the region last year, likely bolstered by alarm activation calls due to the higher number of unit complexes and office buildings in those areas.
Anyone failing to rectify an issue with an unwanted alarm can be charged $1254.10 under current legislation.