News

Further Rain March 2010

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:44:24 GMT

Western Group have been activated again for storm damage operations on Saturday 6 March, as well as for some damage during the previous week.

Western Group members deployed to Charleville

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:42:53 GMT

Four members from Western Group have been deployed as part of the South East Queensland contingent helping the recovery effort in Charleville.

The members drove to Charleville on Friday, will assist in the clean-up Saturday to Monday, and then return to Brisbane on Tuesday.

Heavy Rain Storms 16 Feb 2010

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:46:57 GMT

Further heavy rain hit Brisbane during the morning & afternoon of 16 February 2010. Some of the western suburbs were particularly hard hit, with flash flooding taking vehicles in Milton. Media reports are that the rain is the heaviest to hit inner-Brisbane for ten or so years.

All groups in Brisbane were activated during the afternoon. Western Group put a team of four into the field with the Rodeo and storm trailer, attending a total of four jobs (surface flooding and roof damage) in the afternoon. A further three members operated headquarters.

Thanks to those members that attended and those that were available in the evening if there were a large number of jobs.

Heavy Rain Storms 6&7 Feb 2010

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:54:16 GMT

Heavy rain fell on Brisbane over the evening of the 6th and 7th of February. Seven members from Western Group took part in the activation; six operated in the field and one worked in the group's Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).

A total of six jobs were assigned to Western Group and members contributed 29 hours to the activation. Many thanks to those that were able to participate, and thanks to those members that were available but not called upon.

Exercise Real World

Wed, 13 May 2009 09:43:47 GMT

Brisbane Unit held an exercise at QUT Kelvin Grove on Saturday 9 May. Members from many groups participated in the exercise, which was a collapsed building due to an earthquake. Many casualties were trapped inside and the SES members were required to safely extract them from the building and to provide first aid treatment. The Queensland Fire & Rescue Service, Red Cross and Salvation Army participated too and it was great to see multi-agency participation in the event.

A photo gallery has been started with photos from the exercise. This can be found under Training on the group gallery, or you can use this link to go directly to the gallery.

Rescue of Bushwalkers 25 Apr 2009

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 01:42:24 GMT

Western Group and Northern Group assisted the Queensland Police Service in rescuing a family of bushwalkers from Brisbane Forest Park late on Saturday night.

The group of four, two adults and two children lost the trail to exit the park and called police around 6.30pm. The family was located safe and well around 11.30pm Saturday evening.

Ongoing Storm Repairs

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:45:07 GMT

Western Group members have put in a stellar effort with ongoing emergency repairs to storm damaged properties. Even though it is almost two weeks since the initial storm, reports are still coming in from people that have recently returned home or are only now able to report their damage.

Things are winding back with most repairs taking place in the evenings. It is very pleasing to see members prepared to put so many hours into the repair effort, especially after such a long activation.

Floods 20 Nov 08

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39:14 GMT

Following on from the severe thunderstorms on Sunday the 16th of November, very heavy rain fell over Brisbane and Ipswich on the night of 19 November through into the morning of the 20th. This caused flooding of creeks and rivers around the area and caused further damage to houses that were storm damaged.

Western's Group Leader (Peter Healey) was involved in a flood boat rescue of people and their pets (more photos in the gallery).

Severe Storms 16 Nov 08

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:36:01 GMT

Western Group was put on standby at 1630 and activated at approximately 1800 to respond to the severe thunderstorms that hit the western suburbs of Brisbane. Two teams were deployed: one to the Ferny Grove area and the other to Brookfield and Pullenvale.

Teams were deployed for the days following to effect repairs to damaged houses.

Flood Boat Training

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:35:30 GMT

David, Pascal & Paul recently completed training as Flood Boat Operators. Photos from the course are available on the photo gallery, which was conducted at Cleveland (Redland SES Unit).