City of Sydney Fire Station 17 May 2014

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• published: 18 May 2014
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Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) is the State Government agency providing fire and rescue services to cities and larger towns across the state of New South Wales, Australia. It became the prime rescue service within it's coverage area and changed its name from the New South Wales Fire Brigades on 1 January 2011. With 3,500 permanent fire fighters, including around 95 females, and 3,500 "retained" (part-time) fire fighters across 339 fire stations, it is the 7th largest fire authority in the world. Other areas of the state are covered by the NSW Rural Fire Service which is a separate entity with 2,000 brigades, comprising a small group of permanent employees and around 70,000 volunteers. City of Sydney Fire Station is at 213 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, in the southern central business district of Sydney and is designated Station 001. It was built for the Metropolitan Fire Brigade as Headquarters Fire Station and opened in 1888, extended in 1911, altered in 1929 and extended again in 2003 when its name was changed to City of Sydney Fire Station, as a reflection of the fact that it sits within the City of Sydney local government area. A portion of all local government land rates goes towards a Fire Levy which partially funds the service. With rescue and an ever-increasing inner city population (that's an apartment building under construction next door to the station), its a busy station. The "Flyer", fleet number ME256 ("Motor Engine", a term used since 1906 originally to distinguish motor vehicles from horse drawn steam fire engines), is a Scania P320 (P cab, 320 horsepower engine) chassis with SEM equipment body and Rosenbauer NH40 4,000 litres per minute pump. The Scania chassis was built in May 2010, the SEM equipment body was completed in November 2010 and used a 2009-built Austrian Rosenbauer pump, and the unit was operational early 2011. A "Flying Squad" on the "Flying Motor" originated only at Headquarters in 1928, supplanting the Running Motor as first response appliance. The "Runner", fleet number ME257, is another of the 31 Scania P320 appliances in service with FRNSW, and is identical to the Flyer in almost every way, excepting it carries additional rescue equipment. It was built and arrived at the same time as the Flyer although the chassis/engine precedes the Flyer. Early fire stations of Sydney's Metropolitan Fire Brigade with more than one horse drawn steam fire engine (No. 1 Headquarters, No. 2 George Street West now UTS Broadway site, No. 3 George Street North, now First Fleet Park Circular Quay and No. 4 Marrickville now known as No. 28) had a dedicated "Running Steamer" with its boiler constantly fired up from a boiler in the basement of the station and ready to run. The "Running Steamer" became the "Running Motor" with motorisation around 1906, and eventually the "Runner", and for around the last 60 years has only survived at City of Sydney Fire Station. The "Rescue Pump", fleet number ME258, is the third Scania P320 at City of Sydney Fire Station, built December 2010, arriving just after the Flyer and Runner in early 2011. There are an additional 46 Scania P310 pumpers, predecessor to the P320, that joined the fleet between 2003 and 2010, plus 24 older Scania P94 pumpers and Telesquirts nearing retirement. This is just the Scania fleet of FRNSW, with Isuzu, Varley, Mercedes and Iveco chassis also in use. Scania (Latin for Skane, the Swedish province where the company is based) has been majority owned by Volkswagon since 2007. The Platform Ladders, fleet number 101, is a Bronto Skylift F44 mounted on a Scania P420 chassis with Alexander Perrie equipment body and arrived mid-2010. The "Heavy Rescue and Salvage", fleet number ME925, is an Isuzu FVD1000 and was commissioned on 24 January 2013. The Isuzu Logistics Support Vehicle (LSV) can be seen in the video in the background at 17:15. See this clip for some 1951 footage of Headquarters Fire Station; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBQxPqMnEno&list;=PLYjU0Xph-Gj4mPMHxZD1dxa3S6dchO829 The nickel plated brass helmet at 14:38 is that of Chief Officer Griffiths, NSW Fire Brigades Chief Officer from 1948 to 1955. When a "silver" helmet was originally used by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) to distinguish the most senior officers in the 1860's, the process of silver plating didn't exist and, of course, nickel was less expensive, so nickel plating of brass helmets was used. Such helmets were exported to Australia for senior officers. The adoption by the LFB of white helmets (silver) and yellow helmets (brass) in the 1970's related to these historic rank helmet distinctions. FRNSW fire fighters work a "10/14" roster; 2 x 10-hour day shifts followed by 2 x 14-hour night shifts, then 4 days off, changing at 8am and 6pm daily, requiring four shifts for continuous operation called A, B, C and D Platoons. See 12:42 in the video. Many thanks to A Platoon, at City of Sydney Fire Station.