The firefighters' union has slammed authorities' plan to respond to light rail incidents, saying firefighters will be left waiting for key pieces of rescue equipment that could be "the difference between life and death" in emergencies.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
But ACT Fire and Rescue chief officer Mark Brown insists the plan will not result in additional risk to the public and that it wouldn't be feasible for the truck that carries the technical rescue equipment to travel to incidents under lights and sirens.
The platform on demand truck, known as the POD truck, will respond to light rail incidents at "road speed" – the same speed as regular traffic.
All other resources sent to such emergencies will be dispatched at "priority 1" response level, meaning they would use lights and sirens to reach the scene as quickly as possible.
United Firefighters Union ACT branch secretary Greg McConville said there would be an unacceptable delay between the arrival of the initial resources and the POD truck, which would be carrying a container full of technical rescue equipment.
"There’s a culture in ACT Fire and Rescue of station officers and crews at incidents making do with what they’ve got because of the waiting time before the POD [truck] arrives," Mr McConville said.
"If you’re stuck under a light rail vehicle, it’s an awfully long time to wait and it will put additional pressure on the crews there to use whatever equipment they’ve got to try and get someone out while the proper equipment is being transported there.
"It could make the difference between life and death."
But Mr Brown said the light rail incident response plan was well thought-out and consistent with fire services in other jurisdictions that had light rail systems.
He said ACT Fire and Rescue had bought two 50-tonne hydraulic rams and two 35-tonne airbags, which had been installed in the technical rescue POD and could be used to lift a 40-tonne light rail vehicle in an emergency.
"We’re not doing anything dramatically different from anyone else," Mr Brown said.
"In fact, the set of equipment that we put together for response to light rail incidents has actually been adopted by other jurisdictions."
Mr Brown also dismissed the union's suggestion that hiring three additional firefighters per shift would make it safe for the POD truck to be driven to emergencies under lights and sirens.
Mr McConville said only one POD truck operator was rostered on each shift, and having three extra firefighters per shift would mean there were always two operators for each of ACT Fire and Rescue's POD transporters.
"Only having one operator for the truck, unlike two in other jurisdictions, means you can’t safely proceed under urgent driving duty," Mr McConville said.
"Urgent driving duty means lights and sirens. If a single driver puts on lights and sirens and drives very quickly, they can’t safely do that, operate the radio and navigate at the same time.
"It raises serious safety concerns and hence the POD truck, as a general rule, proceeds at road speed, which is the same speed as all the other traffic."
In response, Mr Brown said ACT Fire and Rescue had no plans to send the POD truck to incidents at faster speeds.
He said it was a large truck carrying "a huge amount of equipment", and driving it at speed with lights and sirens on would pose a risk to public safety, especially in highly populated areas.
"We’ve configured our response arrangement so that if there’s an incident involving a light rail vehicle, the POD truck is staffed 24/7 and it will immediately drive under normal road conditions to the incident at the same time that the pumpers are already responding," Mr Brown said.
"The time delay is going to be minimal and it gives the pumper crews time to actually arrive, assess the scene, liaise with police and the operators of the light rail, and prepare the scene for that high-end technical rescue equipment to be deployed if it is needed."
