CFS News
This month has seen us busy again with various jobs around the community, most of which were minor in nature and straight forward to resolve. As we move toward the end of another year (how fast did that one go?) I thought it a good chance to look back and cover some of the achievements and challenges we faced in 2018.
Incidents this year
The number and type of incidents that we were responded to this year is as follows -
Sixteen Grass fires - These ranged from small events to large multi acre fires, as far afield as Yankalilla and Carrickalinga.
Ten Trees down - Generally local area only. It is amazing how trees manage to find the coldest, wintery nights to fall over!
Seven Motor Vehicle Accidents - Our least preferred task, most were relatively minor with one exception. Please talk to your families and loved ones about sensible behavior on the roads, and encourage everyone to return home safely.
Five Structure fires - This involves houses, sheds and any other domestic structures. As well as a few local events, we also supported other brigades in Aberfoyle Park and Clarendon. Structure fires generally require a specialist response with the use of breathing apparatus for firefighters – a skill we have as a brigade and which requires extensive training to keep up to date.
Four Rubbish fires - Generally back yard burns or fires starting in collections of rubbish.
Two Animal rescues - Some lost cows and a horse – we were there to assist them to safety.
One Vehicle fire
One Electrical fire
One Oil spill
Support
We also have our Operational Support members who manage radio communications for Cherry Gardens and the other four brigades in the Sturt group. They have also had a very busy year coordinating events and keeping crews safe - their year involved many more tasks than those listed above.
As a brigade, we have managed recruitment of some fine new members this year and we are in a great position for 2019. We have also strengthened relationships with community groups that support us, the Lions, Rotary, SA Power Networks and the Cherry Chatter. We also thank everyone for supporting our can/bottle collection efforts –this really does keep us going. Improvements have been made to the training area to the west of the station and this will be ongoing in 2019. The station itself has had a major facelift, and hopefully by the time this is published the front signage has been completed. This should really make the station stand out and be ready to take us into 2019 and beyond.
Christmas
This Christmas we will be present at the Blackwood pageant, and rumor has it Father Christmas will also be back on the Station tractor, bigger and better than ever. We will be operational if needed throughout the Christmas break but we will not mind if things stay safe and quiet!
Thank you all for your support this year and we wish everyone a very safe, happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. We will be back bigger and better in 2019!