16 February 2009

Local Firefighters

| skerbo
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Just need to vent and ask the community a question really.

NSW firefighters returned home the other day from the Victorian fires and were welcomed at the Sydney airport by supporting onlookers and Ministers.

Well done to the NSW firefighters, what a great job!

My question is though…..100 of our local firefighters returned home the other day and another lot due back anytime now, why aren’t we showing our support to these people?

[ED – At a guess our Government didn’t seize the opportunity for a happy clappy media opportunity]

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Yeah, sorry skerbo, I know it’s a bit off topic. But it’s related to questions posed about the Canberra Cares concert above, so I was just expanding on the theme. (From about #3 onwards.)

Where am I going? Where are we going?

Check out the web pages and find out! Happy to see you at one of our events.

Let’s all just take the information we can from Bill’s offtopic posting and move on shall we?

Bill im confused….where were u going with those posts?

Canberra 5M2M Bushfire Response * Choir *

Yikes, paging Doctor Freud!

Ok, here’s one link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=51279914339&ref=ts

Hi. I’m a local business person (and a Canberra lifer — give or take a year or a few months in other cities/countries) who’s now working closely with the Red Cross and a stack of local music venues to raise awareness of the ongoing impacts of this tragedy through music and song.

We’re not so much of a bucket-rattling brigade as a quick, ‘Did you know that the Red Cross delivers 120,000 meals a week in Canberra and still needs to do all that plus its other stuff while supporting the bushfire campaign as well? Have a brochure and come and chat to us by the bar. Now here’s Ben Drysdale with a few songs, and coming up next, DJ and the Karismakatz.’

And then there’s this:

Having organised the Finale Choir in the Canberra Cares concert on the weekend (see the link above, or page 5 of Sunday’s Canberra Times), I’ve now developed a new initiative.

It’s the ‘Canberra 5M2M Bushfire Response Brigade’.

What is it? What does 5M2M mean?

Go have a search on blogspot, Facebook, YouTube, or just the internet and all will or may become clearer.

Peterh, don’t blurt out the answer about the 5M2M, yeah? Just because it got you a point in trivia, you can’t go giving away my trade secrets.

We have a couple of anthems already that you can read about on Facebook and soon on blogspot. One is ‘Time is a Tempest’ which we sang in Garema Place, and I’m overheard a few people say they now can’t get the song out of their head. Apparently Virginia Haussegger and Mark Carmody were bantering on air about it the other night. These two were just a few of my star-studded and pulled from the side of the stage, last minute chorus.

Another one is ‘Long Way Home’ by The Wells. Again, there are links to all of these on the Facebook site or you can have a quick zip through Myspace for ‘cloudstreet’ or ‘The Wells’, both based in South East Queensland.

I’m working on Canberra. Slowly.

And all of this was inspired by the ‘International Sing Wherever You Go Day’ which happens on Thursday 26 February 2009.

Not much time, but I have some leave from my day job for a couple of reasons, and well, I don’t sleep much.

Cheers, Bill Quinn

Understandable. I hope that the media can actually for once respect a mourning families wishes.

the family have asked that the name not be released, and that the media respect their wishes.

That is just horrible, thoughts and prayers to his family.
Has the Media released a name yet?

A terrible tragedy that add’s to the overall death toll. I understand the desperation felt by those who live in the area in trying to get back to their homes but I hope they now understand that the police are keeping them away for their own safety, amongst other things – like investigating the cause of the fires.

The family have my and my family’s sincere condolences.

What terrible news. Very, very sad indeed.

my thoughts are with his family.

That is just so sad.

Just reported on Ten news that an ACT firefighter has been killed.

Tragic news.

Sympathy to all who loved him.

Holden Caulfield10:40 pm 17 Feb 09

I just heard on Sky News that a Canberra fireman has lost his life fighting the fires in Victoria.

Thoughts and respects to his family and friends. 🙁

skerbo,

as an SES vollie, can I reiterate the call not to forget about the other agencies not mentioned. I personally reckon that the hardest jobs in this (and most) disasters falls to the welfare agencies – those who have to be in for the lon haul, once the fire is out and the building’s roof tarped.

So a big thanks to Salvos, Red Cross, CWA, Rotary, Lions etc….

canberracapital said :

The 4th taskforce will be leaving soon to go to Victoria. I think everyone needs to remember that it is not just firies that are going. Everytime I watch the news they mention firies coming home and going to vic. Let’s not forget that from the ACT there is Rural Fire Service, ACT Fire Brigade, ACT State Emergency Service, Emergency Services Agency (ESA) Risk Management, ESA Mapping and ESA Workshops/Mechanical.

Lets not also forget the SAES (Salvation Army Emergency Services) which keep all those people mentioned fed!

Hi,
Some photos from the second task force to Beechworth fire are here.
http://southern.conder-act.com/gallery/Victoria-2009
I havent added any captions yet though.

Apology and a correction – on the news tonight, the ABC gave the figure of $11,000. Mst have been some enthusiastic overcounting on Saturday.

Still, not a bad tally for two hours.

canberracapital6:30 pm 16 Feb 09

The 4th taskforce will be leaving soon to go to Victoria. I think everyone needs to remember that it is not just firies that are going. Everytime I watch the news they mention firies coming home and going to vic. Let’s not forget that from the ACT there is Rural Fire Service, ACT Fire Brigade, ACT State Emergency Service, Emergency Services Agency (ESA) Risk Management, ESA Mapping and ESA Workshops/Mechanical.

Good work guys and girls, keep up the good work! You represent Canberra well.

Ok Staria just made a pretty good point…
I complain about Canberra but id be lost with out it
And despite what goes on here we do have a great community when the need arises.

Back on topic however, congratulations to the organisers and for raising so much money!! I hope it helps those really in need and doesn’t get held up by any red tape.

Skerbo, I love Canberra :o) I have always been able to find something to do here, and if I want to do something different, it’s an excellent launching point to travel somewhere else for a weekend or a week. Plus I get to go home to my house, which has a yard, and chill out, say hi to my neighbours, and then have some friends or family over for a bbq/games/party or whatever.

What’s not to like??

deye said :

ebony57 said :

It’s a shame you weren’t at the Canberra Cares concert on the weekend.

First I’ve heard of that.

The concert is covered here:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/canberra-helps-relieve-victims/1433957.aspx

and here:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2009/02/13/2490616.htm?site=canberra&rotator=true

Round of applause to the community and the bucket brigade!
Awesome effort.

Fortunately/unfortunately, it was put together very quickly, partly to take advantage of the stage set-up from the Multicultural/Fringe festivals, but also to try to keep it relevant. If you listened to 666am (come on, there’s at least a dozen of you), you would have heard it promoted quite heavily, and of course, if you looked at the what’s-on guide here on RA, you would have seen it mentioned 🙂

Still, it’s a shame it didn’t rate a mention in the crimes before the event (happy to be corrected…really) – might have had a bit more chance. I love 666 – I’m in the community choir, and listen regularly – but I’m also a realist, and more promotion would not have gone astray.

Having said that, we raised over $17,000, which isn’t bad for a bucket-brigade 🙂

Lol so true BT

And Staria you’ve got to admit, canberra is quite boring.

barking toad1:49 pm 16 Feb 09

If you rely on the canberra times to promote the return of our fire fighters and to give them well deserved recognition, good luck.

It’s usually more important for them to publish a puff piece from the likes of robert fisk on the front page and pretend it’s news.

I think it was thrown together quite quickly (out of necessity obviously!) and organised in part by the 666 radio team. I would have liked to have gone to show support, but was feeling pretty crook. I’m glad the firies and other emergency services people got some good recognition and I hope it was a fun outing for those who went because this is one of those events that, if done well, can really help to foster community spirit (and hopefully help to get rid of the “boring Canberra” tag that we still seem to have).

Yeah i hadnt heard anything on it either till i googled canberra firefighters.
Supposedly it was thrown together quite quickly.
Would of liked to have attended!

ebony57 said :

It’s a shame you weren’t at the Canberra Cares concert on the weekend.

First I’ve heard of that.

I actually just came across that concert online, looked like a good turn out. Awesome to hear that the community did something to recognise them.

It’s a shame you weren’t at the Canberra Cares concert on the weekend. We had a good crowd there, including a contingent of Firies and SES volunteers, and they were publicly thanked and applauded. John Hargreaves was there (Govt. representation, which I think was best kept at a minimum), and I also tend to think that perhaps it’s best to wait until everyone is home.

Sadly, we are dominated by media other than local, so not much of a surprise if you missed anything that happened here. Having said that, I have heard the A.C.T. contingent mentioned many times in the general media, so I wouldn’t say that they are going totally unrecognised.

Dont get me wrong thumper, the support canberra has shown during this crisis has been amazing, 17 shipping containers of goods and all the donations has made me proud to be a canberran.

The case is there are always un sung heroes, just not understanding why the government are singing the praises about the NSW fireys and ours and all the other states are overlooked.

If anyone reading this is a firey who has been helping, GOOD WORK!

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