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CFA Fire Fighters Attacked by Youths at a Fire
Last weekend, CFA volunteers were set upon and attacked by a mob of youths after being called to a deliberatly lit car fire.
The following was reported in one newspaper:
"Eight people have been arrested over the weekend after a drunken mob beat up firefighters putting out a blaze at a country Victorian BMX bike event.
On Saturday afternoon, Country Fire Authority volunteer firefighters were called by residents worried about a large plume of smoke coming from a BMX track near Bendigo in central Victoria.
When they arrived at the Strathfieldsaye track, they found a car that had been deliberately set alight and about 250 people, many of them drunk.
"They threw stubbies at the volunteer firefighters, physically fought with them and got on the fire truck and attempted to interfere with its operations," Bendigo Sergeant Tony Commadeur told AAP.
"The CFA called for assistance from police, one car drove into a volatile situation where a main bunch of 10-15 people surrounded them in a semi-circle and were closing in.
"They were told to back off, they didn't, so we used capsicum spray on one and then they got the message that we were not going to take it."
Sgt Commadeur described the incident in which volunteer emergency workers were physically attacked while trying to put out a dangerous fire as "outrageous".
"One CFA guy pulled up pretty sore, he was dragging people away from the truck after they jumped on it to interfere with their equipment," he said.
"They turned on him and hit him.
"It's disgraceful, no way in the world is that behaviour normal, to be intimidating towards or assault sacred volunteer community personnel such as CFA, SES (State Emergency Service), paramedics who are protecting lives and property.
"If the car had exploded, 250 people's lives would have been at risk."
The car was being used for daredevil "Evel Knievel" style bike tricks.
No one has been charged yet and Sgt Commadeur admitted police did not know who had organised the event, but investigations were continuing.
The event is known as the 'B-town Trailjam' and has been running for nearly a decade but is not officially sanctioned, with police being called there last year over a burning mattress.
This year it was believed to have been advertised over the internet through forums such as MySpace.''
And this news report of the incident:
The following was reported in one newspaper:
"Eight people have been arrested over the weekend after a drunken mob beat up firefighters putting out a blaze at a country Victorian BMX bike event.
On Saturday afternoon, Country Fire Authority volunteer firefighters were called by residents worried about a large plume of smoke coming from a BMX track near Bendigo in central Victoria.
When they arrived at the Strathfieldsaye track, they found a car that had been deliberately set alight and about 250 people, many of them drunk.
"They threw stubbies at the volunteer firefighters, physically fought with them and got on the fire truck and attempted to interfere with its operations," Bendigo Sergeant Tony Commadeur told AAP.
"The CFA called for assistance from police, one car drove into a volatile situation where a main bunch of 10-15 people surrounded them in a semi-circle and were closing in.
"They were told to back off, they didn't, so we used capsicum spray on one and then they got the message that we were not going to take it."
Sgt Commadeur described the incident in which volunteer emergency workers were physically attacked while trying to put out a dangerous fire as "outrageous".
"One CFA guy pulled up pretty sore, he was dragging people away from the truck after they jumped on it to interfere with their equipment," he said.
"They turned on him and hit him.
"It's disgraceful, no way in the world is that behaviour normal, to be intimidating towards or assault sacred volunteer community personnel such as CFA, SES (State Emergency Service), paramedics who are protecting lives and property.
"If the car had exploded, 250 people's lives would have been at risk."
The car was being used for daredevil "Evel Knievel" style bike tricks.
No one has been charged yet and Sgt Commadeur admitted police did not know who had organised the event, but investigations were continuing.
The event is known as the 'B-town Trailjam' and has been running for nearly a decade but is not officially sanctioned, with police being called there last year over a burning mattress.
This year it was believed to have been advertised over the internet through forums such as MySpace.''
And this news report of the incident:
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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JUst found this video of the same incident on YouTube, but the author says the following,"CFA arrives at gathering of BMX riders to extinguish a fire which is virtually out anyway. CFA members using fire hoses to spray bystanders who are taking videos, while other members of the CFA do a little crowd control. "
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There's a couple of issues that could easily be discussed here:
1) Situational Awareness
2) Walking away from a potentially dangerous situation instead of fighting back by the volunteers
And on a totally different subject:
3) Nil SCBA being worn whilst attacking a car fire
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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Point 1. Situational awareness. Yes.
Point 2. Fighting back is a bad move. If a crowd starts to act up, we need to back right off and if possible leave the area until Police have control. But I wasn't there, so who knows.
Point 3. I don't know what equipment that Brigade has, but the only vehicle I saw was a Tanker - often they don't have BA fitted. There are country Brigades that aren't issued BA sets or trained in BA use, it all depends on the risk profile of the individual Brigade. I don't agree with that policy, but that's the way it is at the moment.
If the tapes show that on turning out they were advised of the crowd and what was going on, I would think that the best move would have been to call for police attendance and to wait outside until the Police had control. It's not our job to control drunken crowds. I'd say that an internal investigation within the Region is likely to take place - this was not a nice incident.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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I sure hope your law enforcement is sophisticated enough to identify people through the video tapes provided on youtube. The minute the crowds started to attack, I would be hard pressed not to do much but get the hell out of there, advise the dispatch center that we are in trouble and need immediate assistance. Attacking a firefighter means several nights at the graybar hotel... What a troubling video, and there were adults present... This event should no longer be tolerated unless the publics safety can be provided... as it clearly was not...
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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
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As much as I hate to admit it, I would be REALLY inclined to use the deck gun...
Just a little "brush back" to use the baseball term...
I know, I know, not professional. potential lawsuit, etc..., but sometimes some people just need to carry a "whooped ass" home to get the point.
But consider for a second if the scenario was changed slightly. What if the car had an occupant that was in IDLH?
Or a seemingly complacent crowd suddenly turned aggressive?
I would think a Halligan would make a fairly effective defensive weapon.
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Just a little more info about the fire truck in use. One of the news articles mentioned high pressure. No, not something those trucks possess - probably somewhere in the range of 800 - 1000 kPa, or less than 145 pounds per square inch if that makes more sense to people. Not in the least 'high pressure'. OK to slow someone down if you get them square in the chest, but even then...
But I'll stick with the idea of not being there. Large, aggresive crowd? That's no place for a firefighter to be.
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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on
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Hindsight is 20/20 especially after FF hand to hand combat, which is not in our job description. My 20/20 would be concentrated on fighting the fire from on the truck with high pressure if it would reach, with driver ready to get us gone if attacked. Tough bunch of FFs though, must be rugby players. TCSS
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Permalink Reply by FireCat on
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One of our foremost concerns along with saving life and property is our safety. IMHO they should have backed off and waited for law enforcement to bring the situation under control.
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Point 3. I don't know what equipment that Brigade has, but the only vehicle I saw was a Tanker - often they don't have BA fitted. There are country Brigades that aren't issued BA sets or trained in BA use, it all depends on the risk profile of the individual Brigade. I don't agree with that policy, but that's the way it is at the moment.
I wasn't aware of that Tony.
It's a flawed system that the CFA are using then, given the educaiton worldwide about the dangers of fighting car fires without SCBA. Especially given that every community has cars....
Would have though that it's a legal minefield for them.
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Yes, I also believe it's flawed. We're still trying to get Brigades that are trained /issued BA to use it at a car fire.
Tradionally we have had two volunteer firefighter associations. One for the 'urban' brigades, and one for the 'rural'. This may have something to do with the problem. Thankfully, we're in the last stages of forming a single Association - it can only help.
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