Another tip fire at Mugga Lane

Some stories from elsewhere:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/toxic-smoke-warning-on-tip-fire-20120126-1qj0p.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-30/green-waste-starts-tip-fire/4723274

http://www.krock.com.au/index.php/news/72537-tip-fire-sparks-cfa-alert (different incident to the first one above; the first was actually a transfer station, and the fumes may have been from the burning mechanical equipment)

So it probably depends what’s burning. Problem with tips is, you never know… Cooma-Monaro recently stopped accepting green waste at their transfer stations because people were hiding other stuff in it to save a dollar or two, so when it was incinerated all kinds of nasties were being released. (The decision was reversed when they put new inspection procedures in place for green waste.) I am summarising this a bit, so apologies if it’s not 100% accurate.

IP

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Source???

Only joking. That’s messed up. Just because you are a volunteer, doesn’t mean you should be on site without 100% correct ppe. I don’t even want to think of what sort of nasty crap you and the other guys(and gals?) breathed in while doing a community service.

Do you have any sort of volunteer union or are they only interested when paid memberships are involved?

Or is there any other sort of government body looking out for your safety?

The RFSA. But their idea of representing volunteers is

a) getting into an embarrassing public spat with the fire brigades union about the meaning of the word “professional”
b) contracting one of those annoying call-centres to phone people and sell raffle tickets or ask for donations, and then wonder why lots of people write to the newspapers saying “why is the RFS, a government department, phoning me up begging for money?”
c) selling clothing and equipment at exorbitant prices

The profits from the above do go into grants to brigades, which is nice, but it all seems a bit amateurish (oops, that will get me in trouble with them). Since the ATO took away our DGR status without explanation, their grants will become more important as I presume they still have DGR.

There’s another breakaway organisation which seems to be a bit rabid, but pines for the times when brigades were more self-managing and less controlled by bureaucracy, when any old cocky could jump on a Dodge truck and be a hero.

The issue about being on site with the correct PPE is simply about response time – send the locals who can get there first but may not be properly equipped, or send the pros (or a better-equipped brigade) who are an hour away. It is a tough one to answer.

IP

You’d think that standard procedure for a top fire would be to take air samples and have them sent away for testing. Its not like ACT has never had a toxic fire before.

IrishPete said :

gooterz said :

Carcinogens?

you betcha,. Nastiest fires I’ve ever attended, tip fires, especially when you’re a volunteer so unpaid and so your life and health are not valued so your “breathing equipment” is a smoke mask.

Awful eye-watering smell from burning God knows what (because people hide all sorts of nasties in the rubbish that they should be disposing of in other ways) although burning sofas seemed to be the worst. And if you’re not in the smoke you’re in a cloud of flies.

Thankfully our tip was closed a few years ago and we’ve never had another fire since. They seemed to be annual before that. Suspicions were that some ignorant folk thought that if you burnt the rubbish the tip would last longer. Quite the opposite, as it only increased the motivation to close it. However, spontaneous combustion is just as possible.

IP

Source???

Only joking. That’s messed up. Just because you are a volunteer, doesn’t mean you should be on site without 100% correct ppe. I don’t even want to think of what sort of nasty crap you and the other guys(and gals?) breathed in while doing a community service.

Do you have any sort of volunteer union or are they only interested when paid memberships are involved?

Or is there any other sort of government body looking out for your safety?

Was that in 88 when the Union was trying to convince ACTFB to finally buy a mobile decon unit?

c_c™ said :

IrishPete said :

gooterz said :

Carcinogens?

you betcha,. Nastiest fires I’ve ever attended, tip fires, especially when you’re a volunteer so unpaid and so your life and health are not valued so your “breathing equipment” is a smoke mask.

Awful eye-watering smell from burning God knows what (because people hide all sorts of nasties in the rubbish that they should be disposing of in other ways) although burning sofas seemed to be the worst. And if you’re not in the smoke you’re in a cloud of flies.

Thankfully our tip was closed a few years ago and we’ve never had another fire since. They seemed to be annual before that. Suspicions were that some ignorant folk thought that if you burnt the rubbish the tip would last longer. Quite the opposite, as it only increased the motivation to close it. However, spontaneous combustion is just as possible.

IP

I don’t dispute what you say, there’s definitely some nasties that could be emitted from such a fire. Burning polyurethane foam like in sofas it the really nasty one, because it releases hydrogen cyanide.

But in the pics being tweeted of the previous tip fire, the career firies were only wearing the bush firefighting jackets and masks and weren’t wearing SCBA, they presumably had a choice to.

Thanks. Didn’t see those. Seems unwise if they have the equipment. I’ll do some more hunting n this.

I once stood by while the rest of my brigade got hosed down then undressed at 2am on a sub-zero night because they might have been exposed to asbestos from a structure fire. Anyway, that’s a bit of a digression, but the point being that even clothing can be contaminated.

IP

IrishPete said :

gooterz said :

Carcinogens?

you betcha,. Nastiest fires I’ve ever attended, tip fires, especially when you’re a volunteer so unpaid and so your life and health are not valued so your “breathing equipment” is a smoke mask.

Awful eye-watering smell from burning God knows what (because people hide all sorts of nasties in the rubbish that they should be disposing of in other ways) although burning sofas seemed to be the worst. And if you’re not in the smoke you’re in a cloud of flies.

Thankfully our tip was closed a few years ago and we’ve never had another fire since. They seemed to be annual before that. Suspicions were that some ignorant folk thought that if you burnt the rubbish the tip would last longer. Quite the opposite, as it only increased the motivation to close it. However, spontaneous combustion is just as possible.

IP

I don’t dispute what you say, there’s definitely some nasties that could be emitted from such a fire. Burning polyurethane foam like in sofas it the really nasty one, because it releases hydrogen cyanide.

But in the pics being tweeted of the previous tip fire, the career firies were only wearing the bush firefighting jackets and masks and weren’t wearing SCBA, they presumably had a choice to.

gooterz said :

Carcinogens?

Raptoids.

gooterz said :

Carcinogens?

you betcha,. Nastiest fires I’ve ever attended, tip fires, especially when you’re a volunteer so unpaid and so your life and health are not valued so your “breathing equipment” is a smoke mask.

Awful eye-watering smell from burning God knows what (because people hide all sorts of nasties in the rubbish that they should be disposing of in other ways) although burning sofas seemed to be the worst. And if you’re not in the smoke you’re in a cloud of flies.

Thankfully our tip was closed a few years ago and we’ve never had another fire since. They seemed to be annual before that. Suspicions were that some ignorant folk thought that if you burnt the rubbish the tip would last longer. Quite the opposite, as it only increased the motivation to close it. However, spontaneous combustion is just as possible.

IP

Carcinogens?