Brigade SOPs - proposed update

The BMT are proposing an update to the Brigade SOPs.  Please review the update prior to the general meeting on Monday 4 October.

Geoff

CFA Connect articles of interest

The following are some articles from CFA Connect that may be of interest. 

• VFBV’s new President
• PPC Update September 2010
• Exciting new Info Officer positions
• CEO update: Chief Officer, new dept

Remember that CFA Connect is the CFA's official source of online news.

Geoff

Training Visit to VicFire & FIRS

Hi all

We are arranging a visit to VICFIRE & FIRS located at CFA Head Quarters Tally Ho on Monday 8th November 2010.  This is to familiarise ourselves with how VICFIRE take 000 calls and turn us out. 

Also we will visit the FIRS Reporting section.  All fires have to be reported on by contacting FIRS so you can see how and why we do this!!! If you want to find out more about FIRS go to CFA Connect as there was an article about them a few weeks ago.

The plan is to take 20 people per visit.  When we get to CFA Head Quarters 10 will go to VICFIRE & 10 will go to FIRS then we will swap around.

If we get more that 20 people wanting to attend we can can arrange another visit for the remaining members on the Monday 16th November.

So please email or call Geoff or myself to put your name down. For new members this is must, you will be able to put a face to a voice that you hear over the radio and get a proper understanding on how the despatching system works...

Kind Regards

Michael Chapman

BoM Seasonal Outlook

BoM publish a quarterly seasonal outlook each month.  The latest one came out last Thursday 23 September for the period October to December.  Headlines for our area:

• Rainfall: average rainfall predicted: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/ahead/rain.seaus.shtml
• Temperature: higher than average temperatures predicted: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/ahead/temp.seaus.shtml

Click on the links for more details.

District 14 Newsletter, September edition

Please find attached the September edition of the District 14 newsletter.

Regards

Kris Perkovic
Media & Marketing Coordinator
CFA Northern & Western Metropolitan Region

Blessing of the Fleet - City of Whittlesea

The City of Whittlesea is conducting a Blessing of the Fleet on Saturday 2 October 10:00 at Plenty Ranges Arts & Convention Centre, South Morang.

If you wish to participate, please contact David.

Hepatitis B Vaccination Program

CFA is running a Hepatitis B vaccination program.  CFA funds the provision of the vaccination.  The program involves:

• 1st injection
• 2nd injection - 4 weeks after 1st injection
• 3rd injection - 24 weeks after 2nd injection
• Blood test (to confirm vacciniation) 8 weeks after 3rd injection

You need to organise the visits to the doctor.  The CFA delivers the inoculations directly to your nominated doctor.

If you are interesting in particpating, please contact Geoff to get an application form.

New Executive Manager Roles and Update on Chief Officer Recruitment

Hi, All

As you may recall, the Board has endorsed a new department in CFA for: Operational Training and Volunteerism

The Operational Training and Volunteerism department will be headed up by an Executive Manager who will report directly to the CEO. The Executive Manager will provide leadership, advocacy and consultation and planning in implementing a range of strategies and programs to support volunteer engagement and sustainability, along with the strategy and vision for CFA’s operational training, development program and facilities.

Also, the new role of Executive Manager Performance and Assurance has been created.

20 Sep Skills Maintenance

Apologies - we will not be doing Class A Foam training on 20 Sep.  There is something even more exciting planned!

Geoff

Plenty Road & Masons Rd Intersection Construction inc Traffic Signals

Universal Concrete Constructions has been contracted on behalf of Whittlesea City Council to reconstruct the Plenty Rd & Masons Rd intersection including Traffic Signal installation.

Works are scheduled to commence on 9/9/2010. We will be closing one lane of Plenty Rd and implementing temporary traffic signals running 24hrs a day throughout the duration of the project. We apologize for any inconvenience during this time.

Weekly Media Reports

Sorry, all - I fell behind a bit with these...

• 13 August
• 26 August
• 2 September
• 17 September

Additional material:

• State government response to the bushfires royal commission:
  http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/response-to-bushfire-royal-commission
• Media release for the state government response

CFA Connect articles of district 14 events:

• Brave Melton CFA firefighters yesterday rescued a 34-year-old man from a burning home in Comic Court, Melton West.
• Wyndham CFA crews yesterday attended separate hazmat incidents only kilometres from each other in a busy day for local brigades.

Minutes - General Meeting - 2 August 2010

Minutes of last general meeting: 2 August 2010.

Thanks very much to Sue for producing them.

Geoff

Upcoming events

Please note the range of upcoming events over the next few months:

• Mon 20 Sep - commencing Class A Foam training.  All required to attend to either gain you original certification, or for those already trained, to be familiar with the new foam being used by the CFA.
• Sun 3 Oct - Hurstbridge Farmer's Market.  Help required to man the gate - please contact Ros if you are available.
• Mon 18 Oct - Fire Investigation Information session.  Geoff Ranzenhofer from Greenvale CFA will be presenting.
• Sun 21 Nov - the tour of the National Park has moved to this new date due to the clash with the Melbourn Cup weekend.
• Sun 5 Dec - pre-season BBQ.

Geoff