Donning a heat protective suit and grabbing a hose is still part of the job requirement for firefighters, but as society becomes more savvy to preventing fires their job role has become more diverse.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fire and Rescue NSW personnel are more like Marvel's Avengers these days - helping fight a raging pandemic, saving people from banged up cars, rescuing horses from flooded waterways, and freeing children who somehow got their leg stuck in the slippery slide at the park.
"People just think 'oh you go to fires', but fires now are a small percentage of what we do," said Duty Commander Illawarra Inspector Chad Wallace.
The best jobs, he said, were saving children from the perils their play has got them into.
Fingers in bathtub plug holes, heads wedged between stair bannisters, limbs stuck in playground equipment where you'd never imagine.
"They're the most enjoyable part of where you go out and make a positive difference and the person is not physically injured," Inspector Wallace said.
"Rings stuck on fingers is another big one - this area we probably average one or two a day - you either get called to the Emergency Department or they come to the station.
"Especially in summer when you're pregnant and your fingers swell and you cant get your ring off, or you break your finger."
Getting a ring stuck could actually be quite dire, he said, as if circulation is cut off the finger could turn gangrene.
"We've got lots of specialist tools to get rings off with, or angle-grinders if we need to," Inspector Wallace said.
These probably the most common events Wollongong FRNSW get called to, after their number one being automatic fire alarms.
In an industry where seconds count, when you start adding minutes on to a response time, it can have an impact on the ability to save lives.
- Inspector Chad Wallace
These alarms are the sort in larger buildings, such as offices, where someone burns their toast then the alarm goes off and everyone's evacuated.
Cats stuck on rooves or in trees are also something our firies help with - the law requires in.
Inspector Wallace said the rescue of domestic pets or livestock is part of what they do, but if it's a wild bird stuck in a tree: "then no, it belongs in the tree".
He said their only bugbears were people lighting illegal burn-offs of rubbish or trees (though that annoys Rural Fire Service more because they have to deal with them), "malicious calls" where kids play pranks or hang up, or people locking themselves out of their homes and "need a ladder".
"When we're tying up two trucks at meaningless calls, that means the next person who rings triple zero ... is potentially not going to get your help in 10 minutes," Inspector Wallace said.
"In an industry where seconds count, when you start adding minutes on to a response time, it can have an impact on the ability to save lives."
Aside from house or building fires, other tough jobs Illawarra FRNSW has been called to include bushfires, assisting with storm damage and flood rescues, vehicle accidents and decontamination of people exposed to COVID-19.
We had to setup a base camp on the wharf with tents, and decontamination showers in portable trailers.
- Inspector Chad Wallace
Inspector Wallace was part of a crew tasked to Port Kembla when the infamous Ruby Princess docked in April.
In March, the ill-fated cruise ship let passengers disembark in Sydney. More than 660 of them later tested positive to COVID-19 and 28 deaths were linked to the ship, despite passengers showing flu-like symptoms.
The vessel - with only crew on board - was then ordered to dock at Port Kembla amidst an investigation by authorities.
Like a scene from a Hollywood movie, FRNSW was tasked to setup a decontamination zone for when healthcare workers would get off the ship.
"We had to setup a base camp on the wharf with tents, and decontamination showers in portable trailers," Inspector Wallace said.
Healthcare workers would go through the decontamination zone, strip-off and bin their gear, shower and hopefully be rid of germs to return safely to loved ones.
"It's a standard procedure we have that we normally use at a big chemical incident or a hazard materials incident, for instance a truck rollover with thousands of litres of harmful material," Inspector Wallace said.
Another incident at the Port occurred in 2018, "the most technical fire" the Inspector had been involved with during his 21-year career.
Inspector Wallace said firefighters had to be careful not to flood the boat with water, as if it ended up on the bottom of the harbour it would have devastating economic and environmental impacts.
The "craziest" job he's ever been involved with sadly may arise again in the future, with our landscape quite unforgiving.
"The bushfires, when you're that overwhelmed and day turns to night within a few minutes, you lose all bearings and just smoke everywhere, that's crazy in a way you feel so overwhelmed, but you are helping."
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.