Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Firefighters kept busy on Territory Day with grass fires, building blazes and road crashes

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Firefighters kept busy on Territory Day with grass fires, building blazes and road crashes · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio is the Assistant Chief
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Fire Officer, Joshua Fisher. Good morning to you.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Now before we get into territory day, I know that
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: it's been a terrible weekend actually on our roads. Our
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: fires have obviously had to attend a couple of horrible
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: incidents that have occurred.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely been a really troubling time on our roads.
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  Speaker 3: Since Friday through to this morning. Our firefighters have been
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: responded to a number of road crashes and unfortunately.
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  Speaker 2: A couple of those have resulted in fatality.
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  Speaker 3: So certainly I thought to go out to the family
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  Speaker 3: members affected, but also all first responders that had to
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: deal with those incidents.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: And I know that mindus cent is that the police
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: are still out at that crash from overnight. But can
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  Speaker 1: you just verify for us, josh, So it was the
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  Speaker 1: Stuart Highway between Manton Dam and Marachai turn off, Is
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  Speaker 1: that right?
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  Speaker 3: So the location is near the Mountain Damn turn off,
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: more closer towards Darwin. So it's in that stretch of
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  Speaker 3: road near the rest stop and the Mendam turn off.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: All right, we'll certainly have some more detail on that situation.
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  Speaker 1: As well throughout the morning. But we know that firefighting
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: crews were indeed kept very busy over the weekend while
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  Speaker 1: responding to a large number of incidents across the territory
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  Speaker 1: on Friday night for Territory Day, Josh, how many fires
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: were your firefighters called out too?
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  Speaker 3: So sort of the twenty four hour period from one
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  Speaker 3: July through to the second of July, one hundred and
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  Speaker 3: nineteen grass fires our crews responded to, so about a
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  Speaker 3: third on last year, so certainly a pretty large reduction
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: in what we experienced in August last year. But our
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  Speaker 3: crews were also kept busy with a number of sort
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  Speaker 3: of business as usual responses, so those road accidents as
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  Speaker 3: well as six structure fires that were reported in that
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  Speaker 3: period as well. So our duty crews supported by our volunteers,
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  Speaker 3: did an enormous amount of work, particularly in that six
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  Speaker 3: hour window whilst everyone was enjoying what it means to
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  Speaker 3: be a territory. And so we had about undred and
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  Speaker 3: ninety three members on deck between bushfires in t and
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  Speaker 3: the NT Fire and Rescue Service on the night of
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  Speaker 3: that about one hundred and twenty four were volunteers, so
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  Speaker 3: a huge shout out to them.
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  Speaker 2: In supporting their communities.
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  Speaker 1: Why so many volunteers this year.
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  Speaker 3: Look, generally speaking, we do have a large proportion of volunteers.
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  Speaker 3: So we have twenty six locations that NTFIS is located
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  Speaker 3: at and a large proportion of them are serviced by volunteers.
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  Speaker 3: But given that Territory Day this year fell on a Friday,
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  Speaker 3: a lot more volunteers are available because it's not a
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  Speaker 3: work week. They don't have work the next day for
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  Speaker 3: a majority of them, so they were more available this
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  Speaker 3: time around.
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  Speaker 1: Now, just talk us through some of those major incidents
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  Speaker 1: that you did attend, because I know with those structure fires,
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  Speaker 1: one of them I believe was on Smith Street. Was
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: it on the seventh floor of an apartment building?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: Correct, So at around I think it was ten thirty
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  Speaker 3: eleven o'clock on Friday evening, we received reports of a
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  Speaker 3: glow emanating from the roof of a high rise building.
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  Speaker 3: Firefighters responded and were able to gain entry to a
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  Speaker 3: seventh story high rise where a plastic rubbishpin two hundred
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  Speaker 3: ter plastic rubbish bin was found, a light that had
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  Speaker 3: spent fireworks stored within so that had burnt out onto
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  Speaker 3: a rooftop sort of balcony of the top floor apartment.
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  Speaker 3: Thankfully though there was no major damage, but it serves
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  Speaker 3: as a reminder that we're only moments away potentially from
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  Speaker 3: a really catastrophic incident, you know, on a high rise building.
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  Speaker 1: Goodness may how bad could that have become?
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  Speaker 2: Look, it could have been quite significant.
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  Speaker 3: You know, our resources were stretched in terms of responding
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  Speaker 3: to the sheer number of wildfire calls, then responding to
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  Speaker 3: an urban fire, which would then draw a lot of
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  Speaker 3: those resources just to combat that one incident. So it
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  Speaker 3: could have had significant consequences if that fire had have
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  Speaker 3: spread and caught the building a light.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, And were there other quite significant fires as
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: well on Territory.
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  Speaker 3: Night, Yeah, we had a reporting karma of a veranda
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  Speaker 3: on fire, so again a firework that had shot into
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  Speaker 3: a residential home. A person that was president at the
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  Speaker 3: premise was treated for smoking elation. Thankfully, fire fighters were
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: there quickly and there was minimal damage as a result
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  Speaker 3: of that. And then we had some pretty significant grass
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  Speaker 3: fires as well, so Lee Point as well as.
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  Speaker 2: Another one at Ludmiller.
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  Speaker 3: And then the following days, so our crews have been
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  Speaker 3: busy from Saturday and Sunday through into last night.
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  Speaker 2: With this year number of wildfires around Palmerston.
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  Speaker 1: What people still letting them off?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, anecdotally, that's information receiving a lot of these fires
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  Speaker 3: as a result of fireworks or leftovers from recognitions from
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Friday night.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, you said that the number of fires that
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: you attended were down compared to to last year. Is
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  Speaker 1: that because it was held a little bit earlier in
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  Speaker 1: the dry season comparatively to last year where we'd had
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: really quite a dry dry season.
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  Speaker 2: I think it can a lot of it can come
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  Speaker 2: down to the weather.
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  Speaker 3: We obviously had really real cool temperatures, but also we
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  Speaker 3: had that light rainfall in the day's proceeding and on
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  Speaker 3: the day in some areas. You know, Catherine received a
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  Speaker 3: significant amount of rainfall on the day, So I think,
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  Speaker 3: you know, judging by the weather, you know, the humidity
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  Speaker 3: was up. There was real cool conditions, so fires weren't
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  Speaker 3: able to take hold as quickly and spread. But we
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  Speaker 3: did have some of those high winds so you know,
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  Speaker 3: where there was some good fuel, fires did spread and
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  Speaker 3: like they're at lead points in the like, you know,
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  Speaker 3: we had to undertake some backburning operations to contain those.
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  Speaker 1: Now we're Territorians pretty well behaved for the most part,
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  Speaker 1: or did you have a situation where some people were
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  Speaker 1: behaving badly.
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  Speaker 3: Look, unfortunately, our firefighters did encounter a number of people
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  Speaker 3: acting irresponsibly and reports of fireworks being led off in
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  Speaker 3: the direction of responding fire cruise as they're rocking up
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  Speaker 3: to incidents, as well as reports of cruise responding to
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  Speaker 3: rubbish spins that were alight and as firefighters arrived, members
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: of the public throwing unspent fireworks into those rubbishpins and
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  Speaker 3: then obviously more ignitions and things occurring. So yeah, that
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: is a little bit disappointing. But also we have got
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  Speaker 3: reports of fireworks being let off on rooftop balconies of
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  Speaker 3: high rises. You certainly that structure fire in Smith Street
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  Speaker 3: that was because people were letting off fireworks on top
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  Speaker 3: of that building. Those actually really really dangerous and thankfully
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: there was no major structure damage, but it could only
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  Speaker 3: be a second way.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, by the sounds of it, there was a few
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: people behaving stupidly.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's certainly what our members encountered.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, which is just you know, you think to yourself, well,
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  Speaker 1: I think of the danger then that our firefighters and
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: our volunteers are put into and you go, that's just
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  Speaker 1: not acceptable for people to be throwing fireworks in their
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  Speaker 1: direction and that kind of thing. You don't go to
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  Speaker 1: work to put up with that kind of stuff, correct.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we want people to enjoy Territory Day and
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: enjoy what it means and have funding safely letting off works.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: But you know, we ask people to do it safely
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  Speaker 3: and certainly don't put our people in harms way, Josh.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: Before I let you go, if people are out there
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  Speaker 1: listening this morning and they've maybe still got fireworks left
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  Speaker 1: over and they're not sure what to do with them,
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  Speaker 1: what do they need to do?
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  Speaker 3: So members of the public that do have unspent fireworks,
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  Speaker 3: they must return them to NT work safe by mid
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  Speaker 3: day today. Alternatively, they can make arrangements to drop them
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  Speaker 3: off at a police front counter. So from midday today
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  Speaker 3: it is then illegal to possess any unspent fireworks, so
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  Speaker 3: we encourage the community to return them if they do
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  Speaker 3: have any remaining.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I know that there has been people messaging through
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  Speaker 1: as we've been chatting saying that they've heard crackers going
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  Speaker 1: off after Territory Day, you know, but they've reported it
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  Speaker 1: to the police, and the police have said they can't
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  Speaker 1: come out there unless they know exactly where it's happening.
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  Speaker 1: But should people still be reporting that, you know, they
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  Speaker 1: if they see or hear somebody letting off fireworks, should
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  Speaker 1: they still be reporting us?
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: Most certainly they should be so that any information that
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: we might be able to and we can follow up with,
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: we will. You know, we had a large number of
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  Speaker 3: fires occurring over the weekend. It's likely as a result
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  Speaker 3: of fireworks. This week, we are still going to see
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: some cool temperatures, but you know, from next weekend we're
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  Speaker 3: likely to see that dry air return, temperatures warm up
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: a little bit. You know, in the rural area, there's
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  Speaker 3: been a number of wildfires that have occurred yesterday that
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  Speaker 3: went to Watch an Act level. So that risk is
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  Speaker 3: still there, and anyone letting our fireworks outside of the
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: approved period is not only putting themselves at risk of
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: their community and our firefighters.
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  Speaker 1: Now with those strong winds that we've got in place
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  Speaker 1: at the moment, is it still a concern when it
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: comes to fires, whether these fireworks or not. Is it
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  Speaker 1: still a bit of a warrior at the moment. How's
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  Speaker 1: the fire danger.
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  Speaker 3: Looking look, the fight anger is sitting at high at
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: this point in time, but we will get those strong
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  Speaker 3: wind guss in some localized areas, so you fires are
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  Speaker 3: occurring in those areas, they still will move quickly. We
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: won't see necessarily dangerous fire conditions, but it will make
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  Speaker 3: it a little bit challenging, particularly if it's around residential
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: homes and alike in adjacent to bushland.
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  Speaker 2: So we just want people to be mindful.
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  Speaker 3: It is the dry season, we are in the fire season,
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  Speaker 3: and we are likely to see those fire weather events
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  Speaker 3: regularly occur soon.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we really appreciate your time this morning, Assistant Chief
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  Speaker 1: Fire Officer Joshua Fisher, and a big thanks to our
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  Speaker 1: firefighters and indeed all of those volunteers who have worked
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  Speaker 1: tirelessly over the course of the weekend. Thanks for having
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: a chat with us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks very much. Thank you.