Courtesy of Morton Region (MRSSA) John Donaldson has pointed me to an excellent and entertaining video their club has produced to show how they prepare to fight a fire at the field. This was prompted by the discussion about Fire Flappers at the recent Q1GM and I look forward to following up on this topic in a future article.
In the meantime I am experimenting with the tools we have to embed media on the site and I thank John and the Morton club for offering this thought provoking video.
How prepared is your club to fight a fire? How far away might it be when it starts, how accessible? How will you handle a LiPo, JET A1, Diesel or Petrol fire that happens without warning 400m away on the other side of a fence?
The backpack fire fighting pump systems are excellent but if they contain 20-30L of water that will not only take time to retrieve, setup and fill but it will have to be slung onto someones back and then marched out to the scene.
Definitely good food for thought. Grass fires can get going very fast. Consider what tools you have and how accessible they are and try to organise some training for club members throughout the year. One of those trolly/carts was a brilliant assistance at FOA recently where we were blessed with the availability of vehicles to cover distances quickly.