36 degrees and 35-50km/h winds predicted today.  A Fire Ban is in place for Greater Sydney including the Hawkesbury with a fire danger rating of Extreme.  For more information check out the interactive Total Fire Ban and Current Danger Rating Map on the NSW RFS website.

This is becoming a little too regular for our liking.  Another Total Fire Ban has been declared from midnight tonight Wednesday 16th October until midnight tomorrow night Thursday 17th October.  The weather that hit SA today is moving across and is expected to hit us  is from pm Thursday.  That is temperatures in the high 30's and high wind 70 to 100 km/hr.

No doubt our electricity will fail as usual so make sure you have a normal dial phone and not a cordless one.

Make sure your fire fighting pumps are set up and ready to use if needed, do not wait until it is needed.

Ensure things are secure that could blow around.  Don't park under trees.

And don't light any fires or use anything that gives off sparks.

Look after yourselves and your neighbours.  If you see smoke report it immediately.

St Albans will have crews on standby in case they are needed.

Hopefully this will be an over precaution and we will not be needed.

Cheers

Don and Sherri

The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has confirmed parts of the state, including Sydney, Illawarra/ Shoalhaven and the Hunter, will experience Extreme fire danger tomorrow.

NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast,  and there is the potential for some locations to reach Catastrophic if the weather deteriorates beyond what is forecast.

For the avoidance of doubt the Sydney area referred to by NSW RFS includes St Albans and the Hawkesbury area. For further information please click here: NSW RFS website. 

Report any fires immediately  – if you see a fire without a fire truck in attendance, call Triple  Zero (000) immediately.

The new roster is now available in the members area.

Despite having to compete with the AFL grand final we had a great turnout.  Lots of kiddies entertained with trips in the ATV and lots of snags consumed.  All in all a very successful day with three new members signed up (Myra Fox, Leslie Gates and Brian McIver) and two property inspections organised.  Thanks to all who contributed especially to the MVA for the naughty cakes.
The Brigade

Hi all,
The St Albans Brigade has just returned to the shed after being called out to a pile burn in a back yard.  A total fire ban was declared again for today.  The fire bans are declared when the weather is expected to be dangerous for fire conditions.

It is  your responsibility to check the RFS web site, or listen to the radio (ABC), phone fire control before you light up to see if a Total Fire Ban has been declared.  Although I will try and keep you advised I am not always in a position to notify you guys ahead of time.

The St Albans RFS web site is live and will be up to date.  Also let the neighbors know if you are going
to light up, have water available to put any fire out if need be.

If you see the neighbor lighting a fire and you know a total fire ban has been declared pop over and tell them, they may not know.
Cheers
Sherri

Make a note in your diaries.  The Christmas party will be held on Saturday December 14th.  More details to follow soon...

Well when everyone's alarms went off at 5am, I think the last thing our new BF candidates thought was they would be on the ACTUAL fire ground 10 hours later, they would have thought it was a set up. BUT NOOOOO.....this was the real DEAL!!!!

As our last candidate passed their BF assessment, and I mean 2 MINUTES AFTER.... we  we're called to respond to a fire call at Castle Mountain Webbs Creek.
 
Wow what a baptism of fire !!!!!! 

I could not be more proud of firstly how our BF candidates Peter Jessup, Jan Hawkins, Linda
Sternbeck, and our first cadet Alex Stepanovich excelled at their assessment, and passed with flying colours.

Secondly Peter, Linda, Jan, and one of our senior members Warwick Blacker, who was our driver for the day, and myself were called to an actual fire.

We were lucky that our fearless leader Don McKillop, and Lower MacDonald senior deputy Jim
Hunter were also at the assessment, and they confirmed that this was 100% real, and it was time to put all that hard training into action. 
 
As we drove away from the assessment, our lights flashing, and sirens blaring, every candidate from the other brigades were green with envy, knowing that the St Albans crew were well on the way to becoming experienced fire fighters.

On arrival at Castle Mountain we were tasked to mop up and black out an active fire, which also meant
wading into waist deep swamp and mud, which was never questioned. Our newly BF's did an amazing job, and did the St Albans Brigade proud.  

Congratulations to our new members Linda Sternbeck, Peter Jessup, Jan Hawkins, and especially our
new cadet Alex Stepanovich (our 1st cadet in many years).

Looking forward to seeing you all on the fire ground.

Dave Cox
Training Officer

On behalf of the brigade, I am very happy to launch our community website.  The website represents an important step forward in the evolution of the brigade and the adoption of new technology to improve communication between members and with the wider community. As the website is adopted by our community it will become central to the brigade.  The website is very much a community initiative, not simply to service the fire brigade's needs, but also to provide wider community related information both serious and fun.  We would welcome any feedback about the website to help improve it, make it more relevant to you, and if necessary to ensure that the information on the site is accurate.  We do expect the website to evolve and look forward to your input.