We’ve been quiet on the article front, but behind the scenes Arcadia had never slowed down.
We were kept busy with the big storm cleanup effort through December. Arcadia had multiple crews assist SES in the local and West Pennant Hills area. The trees that were uprooted were humongous, as was the effort given by all agencies involved. We understood how frustrating it was for residents, as our station also suffered from the blackouts, but your understanding and patience throughout that time was appreciated. We were back on storm clean up duties in early February with a few more trees down in Galston, that brief storm kept the district busy over the weekend.
After the January rain we were hit with scorching temperatures. Crews were out checking the local trails for any damage caused by the storms, to ensure we still had access. This occurred over the Christmas and New Year break. Thankfully we had very few incident calls over this time. During this time the brigade welcomed a new member to the station, Arcadia 1 Charlie, a third Cat 1 tanker. Crew members have also jumped into their training courses this year, starting with the Careflight MediSim Trauma Care workshop, which is designed to teach first responders how to assist in all types of incidents. It is a great course that provided realistic simulated scenarios for first responders to interact with each other in. This course saw members from NSW RFS, NSW SES, and St Johns Ambulance working together.
At the end of January crews from Arcadia, Galston and Cherrybrook were called to a bushfire down Sunnyridge Rd, Arcadia. It was hot work and extinguished quickly, thanks to fast acting crews, and the residents that alerted triple zero to it promptly. This fire was due to power lines arcing. Throughout this fire season we have been asking our community to continuously revise their fire plan to ensure it takes into account their changing families, animals, and environments.
We would like to remind everyone to check the Fire Danger Index in their area, respect TOBAN (Total Fire Ban) rules, and if you’ve got a pile to burn to then have the appropriate permits. In the Hornsby/ Ku-Ring-Gai district during fire season, 1 October – 31 March, residents are required to have 2 permits, from Hornsby Council and from the Rural Fire Service, which local brigades can issue these, however please go through the Hornsby Fire Control Centre. The requirements are different in the Hills District, however, residents are still required a permit. If we receive a triple zero call, we will be visiting.
We’ve welcomed some new members to our brigade recently, and we’re excited to have them on board. If you’ve ever considered joining your local Rural Fire Brigade you can contact us at enquiries@arcadiarfs. org.au there are roles for everyone.
Important numbers and links: Hornsby/Ku-Ring-Gai Fire Control Centre: 9883 2000 Hornsby Council: 9847 6666 or https://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/environment/flora-and-fauna/firemanagement2/fire-permitapply-online
The Hills Fire Control Centre: 9654 1244 Visit www.rfs.nsw.gov.au
