Recent travels home from work have revealed what I consider abuse of resources by emergency service vehicles.
Within the last 7 days, I have had 2 emergency vehicles – one a 4WD Police Truck, and one a Fire Truck – using their lights and sirens to clear peak hour traffic only to turn them off once [...]

Last December we made plain the differences between a condor and the suburb of Conder.
Simon Corbell’s office, it seems, were not paying attention.
“The government has invested in a range of new fire and ambulance stations across the Territory, and these new planning variations, tabled today, rezone land to allow for new stations to be built [...]

Five Emergency Services Workers’ efforts in protecting Canberra have been recognised with a special centenary certificate and a medal.
The five recipients of this year’s ACT Community Protection Medal are:
Detective Sergeant Ronald Melis, who has served the ACT Community as a police officer for over 25
years. Detective Sergeant Melis has been a mentor and coach to [...]

The ABC has news on some brawling surrounding the appointment of Tony Graham as the ACT Emergency Services Commissioner:
During the 2003 Canberra bushfires, Mr Graham was the operations officer and incident controller.
At an inquest into the disaster, Coroner Maria Doogan said “Mr Graham displayed a lack of judgement by failing to recognise the limitations [...]

The ABC reports that the ACT Emergency Services Agency Commissioner is heading off to pastures new:
Mark Crosweller served as ESA Commissioner in Canberra for three years.
He has been selected as the new Director-General of Emergency Management Australia.

Simon Corbell has been a bit cheeky in the caretaker period and gone handing out medals to emergency services workers.
But let that not detract from those who’ve been awarded today:

ACT Ambulance Service
– Michael Bohun, National Medal
– Megan Davis, National Medal
– Richard Forshaw, National Medal
– Matthew Green, National Medal
– Wayne Battye, 2nd Clasp
– Ronald Wardrope, 2nd [...]

How many times can the Aranda and Calwell emergency services facilities be announced? July doesn’t seem so long ago. But it’s an election so here we go:
If re-elected in 2012, ACT Labor will invest nearly $44 million to build new emergency services stations at Aranda and Calwell/Conder.
ACT Labor will also invest more than $4 million [...]

Simon Corbell has announced he’s kicking off the Development Variation process for two new combined fire and ambulance stations:
“The proposed variations to the Territory Plan will bring emergency services stations closer to the communities that they serve, and provide for quicker response times from ambulance and fire and rescue,” Mr Corbell said.
“Territory Plan draft variations [...]

Simon Corbell has announced the passage of his Emergencies (Commissioner’s Directions) Bill 2012:
Mr Corbell said that under the changes, the ESA Commissioner may direct a Chief Officer to provide additional resources to ensure the optimum capability of the Territory is made available to respond.
“In the case of the ACT Ambulance Service, ACT Fire & Rescue, [...]

The three ring circus is well and truly out on Constitution Avenue with all manner of emergency vehicles.
We’ve heard it’s a suspect package at 2 Constitution Avenue. We’ll update as more comes to hand.

UPDATE 16/03/12 14:18: This statement from ACT Policing:
ACT Policing is responding to a suspicious package that was located at Constitution Avenue, Civic.
ACT [...]

Word on the street is there’s been an explosion at Canberra House.
Certainly there’s a three ring circus of emergency vehicles in attendance.
We’ll update you when we hear more.
UPDATE 02/02/11 11:30: The ESA has now explained it was a ruptured light fitting. Must have been a goodun:
ACT Fire & Rescue on scene at the Canberra House [...]

ACT Policing, ACT Parks and Conservation, Snowy Hydro Southcare and a host of other emergency responders in the region will have their resources and capabilities tested in a high-risk exercise conducted within the Namadgi National Park south of Canberra this morning (Friday, December 16).
The exercise scenario involves an armed man posing a threat within the [...]

Senator Humphries is letting us know that he’s had the answers back to the Questions On Notice he asked the Attorney-General on why the Emergency Alert system failed during the Mitchell Fire emergency.
In response to questions on notice asked by Senator Humphries, the Attorney-General has put it in terms clear as day:
The Emergency Alert technology [...]

Following on from yesterday’s announcement of new fire and ambulance stations the Liberals’ Brendan Smyth has expressed some disappointment in the scope of the plans:
“In keeping with the debacle that was the delivery of the GDE, the Busway to Belconnen, the new ESA headquarters and the Alexander Maconochie Centre, Mr Corbell has continued his poor [...]

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Simon Corbell has announced changes to the locations of fire and ambulance stations around Canberra:
“This strategy has been developed in close consultation with the Transport Workers Union (TWU) who represent intensive care paramedics, and the United Firefighters Union (UFU) who advocate for ACT Fire Brigade officers to ensure the needs of frontline [...]

A trial of the national telephone warning system, EMERGENCY ALERT, will be conducted in the ACT this Tuesday, 7 June 2011, from 7pm.
The trial will be conducted in Dunlop from Ginninderra Drive through to the Dunlop Grasslands, and from the fire trail west of the Charnwood district playing fields, out to the West Belconnen [...]

ACT Policing has won the second Battle of the Badges at the Camp Quality Verti-COOL Challenge last Friday (February 25).
ACT Policing won the race with a median time of 14min 3sec. ACT Fire Brigade came a close second with a time of 14min 33sec. ACT Ambulance Service came third with a time of 14 min [...]

[Simon Corbell sends them off]
7:25pm Thursday 13 January 2011 – ACT to send ACTSES task force to Queensland flood emergency The ACT Emergency Services Agency will send a task force of ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) members to Queensland tomorrow to help with the flood emergency.
The 21 person deployment (20 volunteers and one [...]

[First filed: Nov 26, 2010 @ 9:18]
[Mum, baby, and ambulance call taker, photo courtesy of the ESA]
This in from the ESA:
6:00pm Thursday 25 November 2010 – ACT Ambulance Service emergency triple zero call taker helps deliver baby over the phone A Tuggeranong family has praised an ACT Ambulance Service Ambulance Support Officer for the [...]

[From the left: High Commissioner of Samoa, H.E
Lemalu Tate Simi, Simon Corbell, Mark Crosweller, ACT ESA Commissioner and Samoan Fire and
Emergency Services Authority (FESA) Commissioner, Seve Tony Hill]
Simon Corbell has announced the handover of decommissioned emergency services vehicles to Samoa:
Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Simon Corbell, today handed over the keys of three [...]

The following in from the ESA:
11:15am Thursday 5 August 2010 – Small fire extinguished at Canberra Centre ACT Fire Brigade has extinguished a small fire at a business inside the Canberra Centre, Bunda Street, City.
Firefighters are conducting salvage work and ventilating the area. Ground floor and lower ground floor has been evacuated.
Crews were [...]

The following in from the ESA:
6:30am Friday 18 June 2010 – Bin fire at Woden shopping complex Firefighters have extinguished a fire in a large hopper bin at Woden Plaza this morning.
The ACT Fire Brigade responded to the incident at around 2 o’clock.
The fire sent smoke through some of the nearby centre buildings [...]

Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Simon Corbell, just two days ago announced he was “further strengthening” governance at the Emergency Services Authority.
This morning it’s man overboard as the Emergency Services Commissioner, Gregor Manson, resigned last night.
Simon is thanking Gregor for his efforts over the last three years.
UPDATED: The Liberals’ Brendan Smyth is [...]

One thing a visitor quickly notices in the authorised media of countries under dictatorships is that problems in the Government are only ever reported in terms of their solutions.
Something very similar appears in the media releases of the Stanhope Government.
Today Simon Corbell announces that he’s moving to “further strengthen” the governance of the Emergency Services [...]

Brendan Smyth is jumping up and down about some figures, from some where, which apparently show only 86.58% of triple zero get answered on the first call.
As Brendan isn’t getting hot and bothered about a lack of police or fire services we can perhaps deduce this applies only to requests for an ambulance.
Is this the [...]

The Canberra Times brings word of another egregious stuff up by the ACT Government.
It seems that $180,000 is being paid every month to lease seven buildings at Fairbairn for the Emergency Services Agency. Of which one is being used, one is being refurbished, and the other five are doing nothing at all.
So far $7 million [...]

1. When oil recycling goes wrong:
Substance found in recycling oil drum
At approximately 12.30pm, the ACT Fire Brigade responded to fumes from an unidentified substance in an oil recycling bin at the Mitchell recycling depot on Flemington Road. The depot was evacuated and closed. Testing of the substance verified that racing fuel had been placed [...]

1. Belconnen Mall ablaze:
The ACT Fire Brigade has extinguished a fire inside Coles Supermarket at Westfield Belconnen.
At approximately 6.15pm, 7 fire units responded to the call, with the fire contained to 2 aisles.
Smoke was extracted from the building, and an estimated 700 people were evacuated. The ACT Ambulance Service was also on scene [...]

Simon Corbell has announced five winners of the ACT Community Protection Medal.
The medal was established in 2002, and rewards members for sustained distinguished or outstanding service to the community in ACT Policing, ACT Fire Brigade, ACT Rural Fire Service, ACT Ambulance Service or the ACT State Emergency Service.
Each year five of the medals are awarded, [...]

[ 10 October, 2008; 7:00 pm; ]

Picking Up The Peaces are throwing a fundraising ball on 10 October at the National Museum.

The night will feature live jazz bands, champage, delicious food and lots of entertainment.

Tickets cost $110 / person, or $1000 for tables of 10. For more information, contact: info@pickingupthepeaces.org.au

If you haven’t heard of them they describe their mission thusly:

PUTP is [...]