Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Chief Fire Officer Mark Spain gives an update on the Palmerston Fire Station on 360 with Katie Woolf

Transcript

Chief Fire Officer Mark Spain gives an update on the Palmerston Fire Station on 360 with Katie Woolf · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: You are listening to Mix one O four point nine.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me live in the studio right now, we
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  Speaker 1: know the new Palmerston Regional Fire and Emergency Services Complex, Well,
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  Speaker 1: it's at the half way mark. And joining us in
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  Speaker 1: the studio is Mark Spain, who is the chief fire
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  Speaker 1: officer here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Spainy, Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Now mate, where exactly is the new fire station? I
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  Speaker 1: know that some of our listeners this morning know exactly
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  Speaker 1: where it is, but for us town is where exactly
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  Speaker 1: is it.
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  Speaker 2: It's well situated for the growth of the Litchfield area
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  Speaker 2: in the Palmston area, so it's on the Howd Springs Road,
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  Speaker 2: so it gives us good connectivity to the Stuart High
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  Speaker 2: and back feeds into Palmerston and also allows us to
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  Speaker 2: head out to cool A Lingo. As you know, that's
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  Speaker 2: a really major growth area at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: And obviously it's reached the half way mark. You know,
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  Speaker 1: why was the new fire station need it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, if you look back on our Palmston original station
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  Speaker 2: which we still habitat, is that was built in nineteen
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  Speaker 2: eighty three and it's actually built just for four same
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  Speaker 2: Sex firefighters. But as you know, fire Rescue Service is
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  Speaker 2: really driving to move forward to a diverse workforce which
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  Speaker 2: is in line with our community, So in line with
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  Speaker 2: the Barrimer fire Station, the Castro and fire station. This
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  Speaker 2: new complex I'm really excited about is we'll just be
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  Speaker 2: out of focus for that. But not only that, as
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  Speaker 2: you highlighted earlier, we've got such growth in the Palmerston area,
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  Speaker 2: in the Coolinga area. It allows us to future plan
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  Speaker 2: for expansion and.
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  Speaker 1: So obviously we'll serve as sort of that more not
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  Speaker 1: only Palmeston, but out a little bit further out to
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  Speaker 1: the rural area as well. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think for the listeners, I think how the
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  Speaker 2: fire rescue service works. We actually just respond just not
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  Speaker 2: only to fires, we do structure fires. So if you
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  Speaker 2: have a look at Palmston itself, I think the population
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  Speaker 2: has just been announced at thirty eight thousand people. So
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  Speaker 2: my crews do that, and then under my legislation obligations,
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  Speaker 2: we also have to respond outside of our emergency response areas,
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  Speaker 2: so we do ray crash rescue and has Matt all
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  Speaker 2: those sort of things and any other emergencies that we're
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  Speaker 2: confronted with. And the idea for that is to give
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  Speaker 2: us in a good corridors so that we can get
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  Speaker 2: to them in a totally manner.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, good stuff. Now, I understand that there's also sort
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  Speaker 1: of recruitment underway at the moment for the next round
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  Speaker 1: of fire ees. What exactly are you looking for? On
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  Speaker 1: how many are you trying to recruit?
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  Speaker 2: We're looking for another twelve. The CEO, which is the
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  Speaker 2: commissioner please mister Chalker, has signed off on a further
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  Speaker 2: twelve recruits and that will bolster our systems. And of
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  Speaker 2: course we've got beautiful weather up here. You know, during
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  Speaker 2: the build up it'll be a great time to come
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  Speaker 2: down to do a come and try day which is
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  Speaker 2: scheduled for Saturday, but you will need to book in.
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  Speaker 2: It's just don't show up on the day because it's
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  Speaker 2: a structured program.
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  Speaker 1: So you've got to book in to have a crack
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  Speaker 1: at this.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely if you go to our PFS Facebook site and
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  Speaker 2: that will give you all the links and how to
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  Speaker 2: book in.
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  Speaker 1: Now, I did this for the police not so long ago,
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  Speaker 1: and that was pretty hard, but I've heard that it's
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  Speaker 1: actually harder to get into the firees. Oh. The fitness
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  Speaker 1: test and a few of those things are a bit
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  Speaker 1: more difficult, aren't they.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the police say all they do is sit you
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  Speaker 2: in a car, see if the seatbelts come to all
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  Speaker 2: their conditions good. We actually put on some pretty good
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  Speaker 2: gear and go running around and saving the community. So
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  Speaker 2: you don't let that.
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  Speaker 1: So what exactly, like, what kind of things do you
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  Speaker 1: look for when people do their fitness test?
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  Speaker 2: Well, as I led to before, it's just not a
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  Speaker 2: matter of going in and fighting wildfires or structured fires.
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  Speaker 2: We do hasmatt, hazardous materials, we do confined space, we
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  Speaker 2: do a number of things that associated with the fire service.
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  Speaker 2: So you can imagine the public would say if something
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  Speaker 2: went wrong, they would call the fires, and we want
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  Speaker 2: to be in a position to do that. So it
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  Speaker 2: is very arduous. I make no apologies for that. We're
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  Speaker 2: looking for very fit people that will be in line
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  Speaker 2: with our community for a great career, and there are
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  Speaker 2: many opportunities within fire service. It's just not shift work.
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  Speaker 2: We do training and development. We've got fire safety, which
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  Speaker 2: if you have a look at all the high rises,
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  Speaker 2: we get involved in that for the safety of our people.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of behind the scenes within the
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  Speaker 2: fire and rescue service that people may not be aware of.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so you're looking for twelve. If people do
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  Speaker 1: want to come down and have a bit of a trial,
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  Speaker 1: they can actually do that Saturday. Did you say Sunday
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  Speaker 1: as well?
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  Speaker 2: Or just Saturday Sunday schedule for Alis Springs for the
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  Speaker 2: same reads because I have twenty seven locations across the
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  Speaker 2: territory predominantly volunteer, but I do have career stations at
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  Speaker 2: El Springs and dary On, yeah, and five track stations.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a great opportunity for a future career.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, now, Spainy, before I let you go, when exactly
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  Speaker 1: I know someone's message through in us. When are we
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  Speaker 1: expecting the Palmeston the new fire station to be operational?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the wet season is predicted to be wet this season,
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  Speaker 2: but it was scheduled for May, but it may be
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  Speaker 2: pushed back. But they're just visiting it out there and
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  Speaker 2: with the minister and Minister mister Nicole Madison, you know,
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  Speaker 2: she's invested twenty five million dollars into this and they're
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  Speaker 2: just really getting ahead so we can keep keep progressing
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  Speaker 2: on time, so we should be up and running for
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  Speaker 2: our five season.
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  Speaker 1: And I know it's it is always a busy time
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  Speaker 1: for you guys, but we're coming towards the end of
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  Speaker 1: the season now at the moment in the top end,
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  Speaker 1: aren't we. It's been a pretty busy.
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  Speaker 2: One, absolutely, and I keep plugging our volunteers, so you know,
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  Speaker 2: we really would be in a whole world to hurt
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  Speaker 2: if we didn't have our volunteers who turn up day in,
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  Speaker 2: day out. So yes, we have had a very busy one.
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  Speaker 2: We'll still see a lot of activity at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: but as the humidity comes in and the long drawn
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  Speaker 2: out beautiful weather for our recruits will will come to
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  Speaker 2: a close. But the southern region will kick off, Yeah
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  Speaker 2: it will.
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  Speaker 1: That's the thing. It's going to be busy down there
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  Speaker 1: in Central Australia. Well, Mark Spain, it's always great to
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  Speaker 1: catch up with you. Thank you so much for your
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  Speaker 1: time this morning, and no doubt we'll talk to you
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  Speaker 1: again in the very near future.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Cadie,