Fire Board Concerned About Brigade Strength

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30126, 9 May 1963, Page 17

Fire Board Concerned About Brigade Strength

Approaches to the New Zealand Fire Service Council to increase the authorised strength of the Christchurch Fire Brigade are being considered by the Christchurch Metropolitan Fire Board.

At the board’s meeting last night, the Chief Fire Officer (Mr L. R. Osmond) said that he did not have enough men to cany out a programme of familiarisation by brigade officers of buildings in the city with a high potential fire risk.

"At the moment we are having difficulty in manning our reserve machine when there is a full turn-out for a city call,” he said The machine is held back and manned in the event of a call to another fire during a major turn-out.

Mr Osmond said that this was because of a "normal run" of sickness and injury “Very soon we will need the crew to man another engine at Woolston to give the coverage required for Lyttelton after the road tunnel is through. When we have a station at Bryndwr this will require additional men.

"We are at present down to bedrock strength, and this is a matter of concern in all major brigades." he said.

Mr T H. Boyle began the discussion on the brigade strength by asking whether the senior brigade officers inspected buildings in the city with a high potential fire risk.

"A knowledge of the interior of a big building by brigade officers when there is a fire at night, or a fire giving off dense smoke, is a great help in dealing with that fire.’’ he said. "There may be trapdoors

in the floors: ways of access and egress that would prove dangerous or helpful to the fire-fighters. One or two of the brigade officers have mentioned to me that they would Ike to do inspection work on big buildings so that they would know the interiors in the event of fire." Mr Osmond said that such inspections by officers of the brigade would definitely be desirable.

“At the moment, we just cannot spare the officers without denuding the machines. Our first duty is to get to fires speedily and extinguish them. To do that we must have the machines fully manned.” Mr Osmond said. The chairman (Mr W. R. Campbell) said that the crux

of the matter was the authorised strength of the brigade. Mr Osmond had said that familiarisation inspections would be desirable, and there could be no argument against them. On the other hand, the first duty was to get machines and men to fire outbreaks. “We don’t want to harken back to the fire of several years ago, but I remember vividly the questions over some months that followed it.” Mr Campbell said. “I remember we were then asked about inspections. Fortunately, we were familiar with the building concerned.

“We should raise this matter of familiarisation inspections by officers with the Fire Service Council and point out that the present strength precludes inspections. “If the council will not agree to increase the strength, then the responsibility will be with it,” Mr Campbell said. Mr Osmond was instructed to raise the matter of the brigade’s strength with the Chief Fire Service Officer (Mr G. Drummond) when he visits Christchurch soon. Mr Osmond said he would also raise the matter of the brigade strength, and the matters of inspection, manning “back” machines, and so on, which depended on the brigade strength.