Old, important habits just do not go away for Assistant Commissioner Fire and Rescue NSW Regional Operations Rob McNeil who started out telling us about Saturday's Firefighter Championships for Region North 3 by dropping a reminder about the importance of smoke alarms.
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... when the public is out there having its worst day, this is what be do to make it better.
- Rob McNeil Assistant Commissioner Fire and Rescue NSW Regional Operations
"If I can do anything valuable in this interview, it should be to get the message out about the value of having a working smoke alarm," he said.
"With daylight saving about to end time to change your clocks and the batteries in your smoke alarms."
Rob continued on to say Saturday was the first Regional Firefighter Championships for 2019.
"We hold three competitions every year, and every three years they culminate in a State Championship. Every other year we also hold an Australasia Firefighting Championship. That's when we bring Australasian firefighters to compete in events that replicate what happens on the emergency ground," he said.
"This is a big drill competition, so that when the public is out there having its worst day, this is what we do to make it better.
"So, there's firefighting, breathing apparatus, hazardous materials, motor rescue incidents, but more importantly here, the teams work very well together as single teams and this brings them together as a State."
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Assistant Commissioner McNeil said NSW firefighters were excellent when working with their interstate counterparts.
"That's thanks to the Australasian Championships. Only a few years ago we couldn't join our hoses together, we had different connections just like the railways. Now we can," he said.
"Once they come together, the camaraderie builds and the teamwork. Trust has to be there because they depend on each other for their lives."
