 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(February 2013) |
The Emergency Fire Service (EFS) was the fire and emergency service that operated in rural areas of South Australia in the 20th century. In 1979, with the passing of the Country Fires Act in the South Australian Parliament, the EFS was renamed the SA Country Fire Service.
The EFS (or now CFS) springs from a long and complex partnership between volunteers, local government and the South Australian government to meet community safety needs. The partnership began as an attempt to deal with fires in rural areas. [1]
Also, in colonial times, government only attempted to control the outbreak of wildfire by legislating against the careless use of fire, beginning with the 1847 ordinance against reckless burn-offs or stubble and grass. Fire suppression was left to local residents who would band together to fight fires as they arose without any formal organisation or authority to set backburns. In 1913, Councils were given the right to appoint Fire Control Officers, with powers to do anything 'necessary or expedient and practicable' to prevent fires, or to protect life and property in the case of fire, or to control or extinguish a fire including backburning. [1]
Technological expansion after the Second World War revolutionised rural firefighting with the development of radios, telephones, motor transport and the knapsack spray. Rural residents also began to form into local or district firefighting associations. [1]
Later as part of the Second World War-effort, government-equipped volunteer Emergency Fire Service (EFS) brigades were established, at first in Adelaide, and later in some country areas. After the war, equipment from these groups was lent to District Councils for rural firefighting work. To supervise the program, an Emergency Fire Services operation was formed within the Police Department. Gradually the many local council brigades began to feel part of a statewide service. [1]
From the mid-1950s, the EFS organisation grew stronger, and volunteers began to campaign for the EFS to be established as a statutory authority. This was achieved in 1976, with the passing of the Country Fires Act, which set up the SA Country Fire Service (CFS). [1]
Coordinates: 28°33′17.09″S134°59′16.02″E / 28.5547472°S 134.9877833°E
A fire department or fire brigade, also known as a fire protection district, fire authority, fire service or fire and rescue service is an organization that primarily provides firefighting services but it may provide other services such as medical response services, technical rescue services and other specialized services for a specific geographic area. Fire departments are most commonly a public organization who operate within a municipality, county, state, nation, or special district. Private and specialist firefighting organizations also exist, such as those at airports or for expensive homes.
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department consisting of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained firefighters are expected to be on call to respond to emergency calls for long periods of time, and are summoned to the fire station when their services are needed. They are also expected to attend other non-emergency duties as well.
The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983, which was Ash Wednesday. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110 km/h (68 mph) caused widespread destruction across the states of Victoria and South Australia. Years of severe drought and extreme weather combined to create one of Australia's worst fire days in a century. The fires became the deadliest bushfire in Australian history until the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.
Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a fire service in Victoria, Australia, with other fire services being Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB). The CFA provides firefighting and emergency services to rural areas and regional towns in Victoria, and to portions of the outer suburban areas of Melbourne not covered by the MFB. Australian emergency services, including the CFA, can be summoned to assist by dialling the primary emergency service telephone number, 000. Mobile phones also allow a default emergency number, 112, to be dialled.
The South Australian Country Fire Service is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and hazardous materials in the country regions of South Australia. Its official mission is "To protect life, property and the environment from fire and other emergencies whilst protecting and supporting our personnel and continuously improving."
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service is a volunteer-based firefighting agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales.
Happy Valley is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Central Business District of Adelaide.
The New Zealand Fire Service was New Zealand's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
Fire and Rescue NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, is responsible for firefighting, rescue and hazmat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas and towns across New South Wales. Fire and Rescue NSW is the fourth largest urban fire service in the world, with over 6,800 firefighters serving at 335 fire stations throughout the state, supported by 465 administrative and trades staff and 5,700 community fire unit volunteers. FRNSW are also the busiest fire service in Australia, attending over 124,000 incidents a year.
As firefighting has a rich history throughout the world, traditions in this profession vary widely from country to country.
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
The Eyre Peninsula bushfire of 2005, an event also known locally as Black Tuesday and by South Australian Government agencies as the Wangary bushfire, was a bushfire that occurred during January 2005 on the lower part of the Eyre Peninsula, a significant part of South Australia's wheat belt, where most of the land is either cropped or grazed. The fire resulted in 780 square kilometres (301 sq mi) of land being burnt, the loss of nine lives, injury to another 115 people, and huge property damage. It was South Australia's worst bushfire since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. Heat from the fire reached 1,000 °C (1,830 °F), with speeds up to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph).
Civil Defence Ireland is the national civil defence organisation of Ireland. It is a statutory agency of the Irish Department of Defence and is administered by local authorities. It was established in 1951 in response to the threat of nuclear disaster posed by the atomic bomb following World War II. Today it is an emergency response and rescue agency whose purpose is to provide aid, assistance and relief in times of emergency or natural disaster. It may also support primary emergency response agencies namely An Garda Síochána, HSE National Ambulance Service, and local authority fire services when requested. Civil Defence Ireland consists almost entirely of volunteers, numbering 4500 as of February 2019.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) is the primary provider of fire and emergency services in Queensland. The QFES was established in 2013 to improve the coordination and planning of emergency services, adopting an 'all hazards' approach to emergency management.
The Newham Fire Brigade is a volunteer firefighting service located in Newham, Victoria at 1293 Rochford Road. The brigade is often referred to as the Newham CFA and was formerly known as the Newham Rural Fire Brigade. The brigade is part of the Mount Macedon Group in the Lodden-Mallee Region of the Country Fire Authority. Newham is located in the Macedon Ranges, which is one of Victoria's popular holiday spots and has a risk of bushfire during the summer months.
The ACT Rural Fire Service is a branch of the Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Agency. It is responsible for the prevention, detection and extinguishment of all bushfires within the ACT, as well as assisting the other branches of ESA.
The 2015 Sampson Flat Fire was a bushfire in the Australian state of South Australia, the area affected was predominantly the northern Adelaide Hills and the outer Adelaide metropolitan area. The fire began on 2 January 2015 during a day of extreme heat and lasted until 9 January 2015; and burnt more than 20,000 hectares.
The 2015 Pinery bushfire was a bushfire that burned from 25 November to 2 December 2015, and primarily affected the Lower Mid North and west Barossa Valley regions immediately north of Gawler in the Australian state of South Australia. At least 86,000 hectares of scrub and farmland in the council areas of Light, Wakefield, Clare and Gilbert Valleys, and Mallala were burned during its duration.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand is New Zealand's main firefighting and emergency services body.
The South Australian State Emergency Service (SASES) is the South Australian branch of the State Emergency Service. A partner of the Australian Council of State Emergency Services, the SASES is state-governed and a separate entity to other branches, reporting to the South Australian Minister for Emergency Services. The service is volunteer based and prepares and responds to emergencies within the state. The service was founded 1962, and on average receives 10,000 calls for assistance per year.