Access to blog documents

The provider I was using to store the documents that were linked from the blog - MediaFire - has purged my account.  This is from a combination of me travelling and not responding in time to some claims about copyright infringement they sent me (none of the claims were valid), and them being very excessive in dealing with the situation.

I need to work out how I'm going to resolve it, as reloading all the documents and relinking them will take far too much time to do.

In the meantime, if you need a specific document, please email me and I'll send it to you.

Apologies for any inconvenience. 

Geoff

BLEVE

Why being close to a BLEVE is a bad thing...

BLEVE stands for either:

• Boiling liquid Expanding vapour explosion, or
• Blast Leveling Everything Very Effectively

Geoff

Strathewen Fire Safety Project: Fire Behaviour Presentation

The Strathewen Fire Safety Project has Nicholas Gellie, a fire ecologist, preseting a talk on fire behaviour on Black Saturday. This is on Wednesday 27 June, 19:30 - 21:30 at the Peter Avola Pavilion in Strathewen.

From the Chief Officer #53

From the Chief Officer #53

Acting Chief Officer Steve Warrington
Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this update. Chief Officer Euan Ferguson is currently on some well-earned leave and will return on Monday 25 June. 
St Andrews Fire Station Opening
On Sunday afternoon the new St Andrews Fire Station was official opened by Cindy McLeish MP. St Andrews Fire Brigade was intensely involved and affected in the 2009 Campaign Fires and it was privilege for me to meet with brigade members at the opening. The new Fire Station has a lot more space with modern facilities to support the brigade member’s requirements and house the brigades 3 appliances. Thank you to Captain Laurie Steel, Ex-Captain Helen Kenney & the members of the St Andrews Fire Brigade supported by OO Ian Cross & BASO Jenny Broadhurst for the hard work and time put into building and opening the new station. Well done!

Community Safety Engagement Forum
Over the last weekend, I have attended two very successful community safety engagement forums. These forums highlighted the importance of leadership in community safety across all levels of CFA. Well done to Managers of Community Safety Mark Potter & Neil Thompson & Community Education Officers Ellisa Bourne and Erin Bulmer for the initiative & good work in facilitating these forums and special thank you to Ex Chief Officer Brian Potter for his motivating presentation he shared with the forum, he hasn’t lost the touch.

Digital Media Team’s double win
CFA’s work in integrating social media into Victoria’s emergency communications was acknowledged last week when CFA won both of its finalist categories at the 2012 Australian Government Information and Communications Technology Awards. CFA was awarded the ‘Excellence in eGovernment’ award in the Government 2.0 category and CFA’s Digital Media Manager, Martin Anderson, was awarded the '2012 Government 2.0 Innovator’ award. You can view a presentation by about the integration of social media into emergency service procedures in Victoria here http://bit.ly/CFAsmem

School Visit for Erin Toomey
Last week, the Eltham Fire Brigade A Platoon consisting of SSO Joe Cardamone, LFF Robert Henderson, and QFF Andrew Reis attended Holy Trinity primary school to help in the celebrations of Erin Toomey’s final chemotherapy session. Erin is a Five year old girl in prep, who has been undergoing treatment for the past three years for cancer, which has required daily oral chemotherapy. The Eltham crew in front of Erin’s family, friends and classmates presented Erin with a trauma teddy from all fire fighters of Victoria. Thank you to the Eltham A Platoon for your very important efforts in supporting the local community. Job well done!

Farewell to Regional Director Mark Reid
Gippsland Regional Director Mark Reid has announced his retirement from CFA after 39 years. Mark joined CFA as a Junior volunteer at South Warrandyte in 1973. He commenced employment with CFA as a Recruit Firefighter in 1979 and progressed through the ranks, serving in a variety of key operational roles at Boronia, Geelong West, Dandenong, Portland, CFA Headquarters and more recently throughout the Gippsland Region.  In 2007 Mark was seconded to the National Fire Authority of Fiji, where he filled the role of Chief Officer for two years.  After the Black Saturday fires, Mark was seconded onto the CFA VBRC team for two years prior to being promoted to the rank of Regional Commander in Gippsland in 2010. More recently Mark was appointed to the role of Regional Director in Gippsland, a position that he still holds today. Throughout his CFA journey he has been an experienced operator, strong leader and a great story teller. A real character that will be missed when he departs CFA.