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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-14 Daily Xml
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METROPOLITAN FIRE SERVICE SESQUICENTENARY

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:45): I move:

That this house expresses its appreciation to the brave men and women of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service in recognition of its 150th anniversary.

The Metropolitan Fire Service's sesquicentenary is a very special milestone for all South Australians, and I am delighted that members of parliament join me today to offer our thanks and best wishes. I am thrilled that over the next months there is a broad calendar of events so many people can share in the celebrations and say thank you to the thousands of brave men and women who have served in the MFS over the past 150 years.

Originally known as the South Australian Fire Brigade, documents show that the MFS was formed on 5 November 1862. This, I have been told, makes the MFS one of the oldest legislated fire services in the world. For most of the two decades following settlement in South Australia, the responsibility for emergency service response rested with the police and the community. Early in the 1840s, the government purchased a fire-engine to help with firefighting. The 'engine'—a cart with leather buckets and a few ladders on board—was stored at the Mounted Police barracks.

Around 1855, a more entrepreneurial approach emerged between several insurance companies and licensed water carriers. At the time, building insurance in the colony was extremely expensive and, in a bid to gain more policies, insurance companies dropped their premiums. To counter the risk, they started to recruit their own firemen to respond to emergencies.

Buildings and businesses in and around Adelaide featured plaques adjacent to their front doors stating their nominated insurance company. When fire broke out, the newly recruited firemen, along with the water carriers who filled their carts from the River Torrens, attended the scene and were paid by insurance companies for their service. This arrangement led to all sorts of chaos and, by some accounts, conspiracy. Soon, the government intervened with legislation for a public fire service.

The brigade, headed by Superintendent of Fire Brigades A.J. Baker (previously superintendent of the insurance companies' fire brigade), provided a less expensive, quicker and more reliable solution for insurance companies, businesses and the community. Perhaps the only ones to lose out by placing the service in public hands were the water carriers, who had quite the burgeoning business before the government intervened!

One thing that did not change for some time, however, was the need to still fill barrels from the River Torrens and deliver them by horse and cart to each emergency. Human power and hand-operated pumps were all that stood between the MFS and the flames.

A number of stories from those earlier days are being pulled together by the MFS for a newsletter, The Ratters Tale, to mark the sesquicentenary celebrations. A 'ratter' was a generic term for dogs that lived at stations in those early days and, as the name suggests, they had a significant purpose beyond the obvious when responding and deployed at incidents. When responding, they would run with the horses and bark which helped alert the public of the fire brigade's approach. At the incident, once the horses were unbridled and led away, the ratters would ensure they did not stray or were harassed. Ratters guarded their horses with pride and enthusiasm.

At the Adelaide station, when a ratter died, they were buried in the firemen's memorial gardens alongside the horses' hearts. Some of the longest serving members will remember the last ratter called Deefa who strayed into the Port Adelaide station and stayed. Virtually nothing happened at a station without the ratter's knowledge so, in keeping with their tradition, The Ratter's Tale newsletter will spread the word about the sesquicentenary celebrations over the coming months.

Speaking of events, it was a fire appliance that featured front and centre at the Adelaide Jubilee Exhibition in 1877. As part of the exhibition, a Shand Mason steam powered fire pump made its debut in our city. However, it was only on loan. It was not until 1888 that the state provided a grant for the brigade to purchase its own steam powered pump, the Shand Mason, the shiny red beauty that sits proudly in the entrance of the MFS headquarters today was bought in 1896 and is one of a limited number that still exists today.

I am told that soon after the appliance was delivered, it was paraded down King William Street. At Victoria Square it stopped and, using a portable dam, water was squirted in the air, reportedly reaching the town hall clock. This resulted in rousing cheers from hundreds of city workers and South Australians, some who had made a day trip to the city for the occasion, standing below.

There is no denying the high esteem in which South Australians held our Metropolitan Fire Service both then and now, and it is no wonder: after all, the organisation has never let the community down. Across three centuries it has changed to meet the needs of South Australians in more ways than most would know.

Some of the major incidents the MFS has been involved in during the 150 years include: the City of Singapore ship fire at Port Adelaide where three firemen died in April 1924; the Wangary fire, Lower Eyre Peninsula in January 2005; People's Palace, the Salvation Army men's hostel fire, where 10 occupants died in April 1975; bushfires in Victoria and New South Wales in 2009; urban search and rescue response to the floods in Queensland in January 2011; USAR response to Christchurch New Zealand, in March 2011; and a large fire at the News Building, North Terrace in October 1968, where some firemen were trapped below machinery.

In celebrating all that is great about the MFS, today I also take the opportunity to tell the house about some of the less obvious ways the MFS serves South Australia—initiatives that do not always grab the headlines but make a great difference in our community. The road awareness program is a fantastic example of this. The program involves MFS officers visiting schools to share their experiences attending road crashes. This program has been very helpful in honing the road safety message to students, which is why our government was very proud to commit an extra $185,000 a year to the program at the last election. Over the next two terms, the RAP, as it is widely known, will be delivered to around 80 schools, reaching thousands of South Australian teenagers.

As both emergency services minister and multicultural affairs minister, I am also delighted by the work done by the MFS to connect with new and emerging communities. This includes efforts to translate safety information so it is available in many different languages. For many people fleeing war-torn countries, men and woman in uniform have been a threat rather than a source of protection. I also acknowledge the lengths MFS staff and officers have gone to to build the trust of newly-arrived members of our community.

Beyond prevention, there is also the selfless work of our fire officers through the Australian Professional Firefighters Foundation, a charity which I have the great privilege and honour of now being patron of. While our firefighters do not make a big thing of their involvement, I think it is something which they should all be very proud of. For members not aware, with each pay, our firefighters nominate a portion of their salary to go to a fund to help fire victims. For instance, money goes towards families recovering from property loss and to support burns victims.

Emergency response still remains at the heart of the Metropolitan Fire Service. While the diversity and demands officers face have increased over the years, our fireys' knowledge and expertise is now as sophisticated as ever.

Officers also now have technology and tools that would have seemed like magic to some of their former members—equipment that is a far cry from the horse-drawn carts and hand pumps I spoke about earlier. In the last 10 years alone, the use of thermal imaging cameras has increased so that firefighters can more easily identify hot spots. We have adopted telemetry to track firefighters and monitor their safety in hazardous areas.

Over the years, there have been changes to the MFS name, its branding and enabling legislation, however the organisation's commitment to a safer South Australia has stayed the same. Firefighting is one of the few occupations where going to work means putting your life on the line on a daily basis. I can only imagine the courage this takes from both our fire officers and those who love them.

While the sesquicentenary is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate, it is also a time to remember the 10 firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty. Today, there are around 1,100 South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service officers, each of whom hold a special place in our hearts.

The 150th anniversary celebrations give South Australians the chance to learn more about these officers and our Metropolitan Fire Service. Most importantly, it gives us the opportunity to thank our MFS officers, both past and present, for their contribution and to wish them well for the next 150 years.

Debate adjourned on motion of Dr McFetridge.

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