24 January, 2008

Fire - Demob is fun, no really

Yesterday I got back from my fire fire posting for the year. It was also my first ground support posting (Yayayayay no fire mapping!!) We left last Saturday, when I had the worst hangover. I felt so seedy, and we had to fly, in a ten seater plain, all the way to Marlo airport, near Orbost. Then we got on a mini bus and went to Cann River. I just have to say, Cann River is a hole, the locals suck and there is nothing there!
Any way, they wanted 4 of the ten of us to go in night shift, because this meant I would get a sleep for a couple of hours, I said I'd do it. I don't mind night shift, it's normally fairly fun.
The camp had been set up for a fair while, and the weather had been nice. When we arrived, it was pissing down, and all the stuff they had been storing outside (card board boxes, bedding, slabs of water you name it, it was outside) was completely soaked. The first night, I counted everything in the Cache. the Cache is a converted shipping container, with everything in shelves and boxes that a fire fighter could need. The Officeworks stock take natzi in me had a ball! I even had to count washers, which I tried into bundles of ten with bailing twine, to make it easier for the next person to count them :)
When we arrived the next night, we really couldn't work out what the six day shift people had been doing, as the place looked exactly the same. Except for a huge stack of slabs of water, that because their cardboard holders were all wet, had collapsed all over the ground. They had been left were they fell. What were they thinking?? why didn't they pick them up? I mean you had to walk around them to get in the building? Why didn't they move them? I'm never going to understand that. Any way, I moved them and sorted them into three piles:
  • dry
  • wet, but OK
  • wrecked

Then we proceeded to clean everything in the kitchen. You have no idea how many trays a bay-maree needs!!! And they all have lids.
Two of us were being moved on to day shift, so we finished up at 3.30am, and came back to work at noon. Again, it was hard to see what they had been doing all day. I spent the first part of my day draining water out of tents. This was hard work by your self. I also made sure all the tents were closed, so they would get any more water in them I had done this the night before, when it wasn't raining, and some bright spark had opened them, then when it rained again, ooo guess what, they go more water in them, whats with these stupid people?
Some of the people in the trip were:
  • Julie - the crew leader
  • "Thats what I was going to do" Steve
  • "Diesel Mechanic" Arther
  • "I never finish what I start" Thes
  • "Get of the phone" Christina
  • Lizzie
  • John (Julies ex-boss, who stopped listening to her about half way through the trip)
  • Bob, crew leader in training (God I'm glad I'm not in his crew)
  • Lucy and
  • Me

I worked with Lizzie on night shift, she is cool! One shift, when we rocked up, the first thing I noticed was that one of the generators was off, the one that powered the kitchen and the cool room. I thought it must have been deliberate. When I asked Julie about it, she hadn't realised it was off, and yes we needed it back on. Arther and I worked out it had run out of fuel. This is bad in diesels. Arther rang the number of the side of it, cos even after we had put fuel in it, it wouldn't go, there was a warning light on, and we knew we'd have to bleed it, and didn't know how to do it. Thats why I named Arther "Diesel Mechanic" cos the man on the phone told him what to do, then we made it happen!! Yay us! :) now I know how to bleed diesel generators!!
Monday afternoon and most of Tuesday, consisted off pulling down tents. As my this pointed the weather was improved and the tents were drying. I had to go into Scout leader mode, and teach everyone how to fold tents. This was OK, except for my knees, which ended up really sore from all the kneeling. There were about 70-80 tents!
Anyway, I'm sure I'll think about other things that happened, I'm a bit tired still just now. Not to mention that everything hurts. Signing off, me :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

well sounds like more fun than sitting around the office with nothing to do. Although I'm shocked to hear there are so many incompetent people in the public service, ha ha.