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Old 07-13-2018, 04:51 PM   #158
woofa.express
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Tocumwal, NSW, Australia
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Default Re: tell a Model A related story

Dill brain at Mt Gambier
In 2006 Itook a summer job as a fire bomber at Mt Gambier which is in the south east ofSouth Australia and only about 20 miles from the coast. The area is general farming, forestry and vineyards. It’s a pleasant area and the town of 27,000 is delightful. Good old style brick and stone buildings and some beautiful old hotels. Eating out was cheap and meals of an excellent standard. A small airline provides three times daily service to Adelaide and Melbourne.
Generally I don’t enjoy hanging around airports but this was the best I’ve spent time on. We were provided the aero club building which had a kitchen and dining room and lounge. TV and internet included. Best of all was the vista. On a hill. Pasture to the south, cropping to the east and forestry to the north and west. No hot bitumen to be seen.
The crew were excellent. All contractors or volunteers. No ego driven fire department staff on site. South Australia fire administration seems to be more efficient because they are less authoritive and rely more on peoples initiative.
There is afire attack officer who takes overall control. His name was Phil Richards and Phil was a volunteer. Now Phil went off for a fortnight and a professional fellow was sourced from Queensland. Can’t remember his name but when he arrived he said he just couldn’t wait for some big fires. What a dill brain.
Well we all arrived on site at 10 in the morning. We wore casual clothing. You know, jeans and work shirts etc. When we flew we donned fire proof overalls. It was all pretty pleasant way to spend a summer although frequently monotonous. I filled in time by cooking the crew a hot dinner, having an afternoon sleep and watching the local stock market.
Well Phil was due back and dill brain was to return to Queensland. He donned his outfit for the flight on the airliner. Orange high vis trousers, green high vis shirtwith “fire attack office” written boldly across the back of his shirt. Specifically for the airline flight.
If the fireies were asked to rescue a cat up a tree they would have the media there to record and publish their good work and they all would be in fire proof outfits.Have you ever seen one of them interviewed on TV that wasn’t wearing or holdinga helmet? Doesn’t self importance or ego drive sane people nuts.
Mount Gambier is in the South East or bottom right.
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Last edited by woofa.express; 07-13-2018 at 04:56 PM.
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