Weekly Newsletter - 14th February 2024

Online copy

Date: 17th February - 23rd February

• First Call: Crew C
• Second Call: Crew B

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Recent weeks have seen bushfires threaten a number of schools. Schools, kindies, and childcare centres constitute one of the highest concentrations of vulnerable people in our communities, and require special attention from first responders and incident management teams. The following points are provided as a quick guide to dealing with schools associated with a bushfire:

• All schools in bushfire risk areas must have a bushfire response plan. If a fire starts nearby to a school, or is likely to impact a school they should begin activating their plan.
• Make contact with the school. Ideally the school should send a liaison to the incident management team, however the school may not be aware of this need, or even be aware of the threat from a fire. If necessary send a representative to the school to ensure there are strong and clear communications between the school and the incident controller. This representative can be a fire appliance crew, or an allied agency (police, local government, etc).
• Pro-actively send asset protection resources to the school. This needs to occur well before the school is impacted, and additional resources should be mobilised to backfill as required. These resources should be solely dedicated to the defence of the refuge building/s at the school.
• Avoid evacuating the school. The school is equipped to provide all basic necessities and amenities to care for their students, including water, toilets, and supervision. If the school is evacuated, the responsibility for providing these will fall to the incident controller. It is generally not practical to transport an entire school via bus at short notice.
• Engage with the local parents and community. Parents will be understandably anxious about the safety of their children. Both the school and the incident controller should reassure parents that their children are safe and well cared for during the incident. A well defended school should be one of the safest locations within a bushfire.

These principles apply not only to schools, but to kindergartens, childcare centres, and aged care centres.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Adrian.

As part of Thriving at DFES, the department is excited to announce that the Annual Wellbeing Challenge is back for the month of March.

The purpose of this Annual Wellbeing Challenge is to provide you with a fun and engaging choice of activities that will help you build your mental health and wellbeing, including:

• Physical activities to get you moving.
• Mental health activities to support and build your resilience.
• Social activities to broaden and strengthen your support networks.

This year, the challenge will be held between 1 March and 31 March, and you can choose the activity you want to tick off every day.

The Annual Wellbeing Challenge guide is attached, and more information is available on the Volunteer Hub (login required).

• Special Annoucnement from the Commissioner

No updates.

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• Saturday 17th: Training - Fire Ground Safety, 09:30 at the Station
• Saturday 17th: Wake for Stoneville Fire Fighter, Daniel West, 16:00 at Stoneville Station
• Tuesday 19th: Weekly Vehicle Checks, 19:30 at the Station, Crew C

• ABC News: Country Fire Authority backflips on decision to remove sanitary bins from Victorian brigade branches
• ABC News: Hazardous materials warning issued for Kwinana Beach over toxic industrial fire smoke
• ABC News: Inappropriate DFES planning contributed to runaway prescribed burn in Kimberley, report finds
• ABC News Video: Homes destroyed and firefighters injured in out-of-control bushfire
• Seven News: Bushfire forces evacuation of Perth school as city braces for week of scorching weather
• Seven News: Students evacuated as Esperance bushfire threatens lives and property