Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service
Encyclopedia
 Logo of the NTFRS | |
| Established: | 1941 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Steve Rothwell |
| Ministry: | Police, Fire and Emergency Services |
| Headquarters: | Iliffe St Stuart Park 0820 |
| Permanent Stations: | 10 |
| Volunteer Stations: | 16 |
| Website | Official NTFRS Website |
Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service, or NTFRS, (in conjunction with Bushfires NT) is the primary provider of fire and rescue services throughout the 1.35 million square km Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is made up of 26 fire stations, 16 being staffed by volunteer brigade units, 4 being manned 24 hours by career fire fighters, and the remainder by a mix of career and auxiliary fire fighters.
The NTFRS is made up approximately 180 permanent staff working in the regional centres of Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, Yulara and Jabiru, as well as 54 part-time auxiliaries and approximately 250 volunteers.
The NTFRS is part of the NT Government "Tri-Service", Northern Territory Police Fire and Emergency Services, or NTPFES. The CEO of the NTPFES and Commissioner of Northern Territory Police
Northern Territory Police
The Northern Territory Police is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1302 gazetted police positions made up of 55 Senior Sergeants, 200 Sergeants, 741 Constables, 159 Auxiliaries, and 84 Aboriginal Community Police Officers...
is Mr John McRoberts, APM. The NTPFES falls under the portfolio of the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, and Chief Minister The Honourable Paul Henderson.
History
Unlike many other Australian brigades the NTFRS is relatively young. The first permanent Chief Fire Officer took command of a newly formed DarwinDarwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
civil brigade on 31 October 1941, however following the Bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, fire fighting duties were assumed by the military after general evacuation of the civilian population. This made The Northern Territory Fire Service the only capital city Australian Fire Service to serve under enemy fire. It was not until 1946 that the Darwin civil brigade was reformed, with another small brigade formed in the large regional centre of Alice Springs in 1949.
The original Darwin fire station and fire service headquarters was located in Darwin city on Daly street, this station was closed and the Iliffe street station was opened in Oct 1988.
Serving outer Darwin was the Winnellie Fire station opened in 1970-71, which was closed with the opening of the Palmerston Fire station in the newly formed satellite city of Palmerston in 1984. Serving the rural area of Darwin is the Humpty Doo station that was opened in 2005.
To better serve the Northern suburbs of Darwin the old Casuarina station was closed and the new Marrara fire station was opened on the 14th June 2007.
The history of the NTFRS is still being researched and written by former Assistant Commissioner of the NT Police Bill Wilson.
Organisational Structure
- Director/Chief Fire Officer - Steve Rothwell
- Assistant Director Operations/Deputy Chief Fire Officer - David Ellis
- Assistant Director Development and Strategy - Michael Ayre
- District Officer Community Fire Safety Section - Grant Hamon, AFSM, MIM, GIFireE, GradCertPSM, DipFireMgt.
- District Officer Training and Development - Mark Spain
- District Officer Darwin and Rural - Rob Trewartha
- District Officer Southern Division - Vacant
- District Officer Track Northern and Volunteers - David Pettit
- District Officer Special Operations - Tom Konieczny, MIFireE
- District Officer Support - Ian Lockley
Chief Fire Officers
- Sep 2011 - Steve Rothwell
- Jan 2005 - Jan 2011 Greg Nettleton
- Jan 2002 - Jan 2004 Daryl Pepper
- Jul 1992 - Jan 2002 Ian Ray
- Jul 1990 - Jul 1992 Kenneth Copeland
- Oct 1986 - Jul 1990 Geoffrey Skerritt
- Oct 1984 - Oct 1986 Jeffrey Godfredson
- Jul 1983 - Oct 1984 Alan Ferris
- Jul 1981 - Jul 1983 William Henderson
- Aug 1967 - Jul 1981 Peter Holtham
- Jun 1956 - Jul 1967 George Robbins
Full Time Stations
- DarwinDarwin, Northern TerritoryDarwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
- MarraraMarrara, Northern TerritoryMarrara is a northern suburb of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.-History:Shown on Goyder's original surveys of Darwin in 1869 was the swamp between the suburb and the Darwin International Airport, but it, like Leanyer, is believed to be derived from an Aboriginal name for the...
(A suburb of Darwin) - PalmerstonPalmerston, Northern TerritoryPalmerston is a planned satellite city of Darwin, the capital and largest city in Australia's Northern Territory. Palmerston is situated near Darwin Harbour and has an urban population of 23,614 on the 2006 Census night and making it the second largest city in the territory...
- KatherineKatherine, Northern TerritoryKatherine is a town situated southeast of Darwin in the "Top End" of Australia in the Northern Territory. It is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory after the capital Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs...
- Nhulunbuy
- JabiruJabiru, Northern TerritoryJabiru is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was originally built in 1982 as a closed town to house the community living at Jabiru East near the Ranger Uranium Mine eight kilometres away. Both the mine and the town are completely surrounded by Kakadu National Park.- Overview :Jabiru...
- Tennant Creek
- Alice Springs
- Yulara
- Humpty DooHumpty Doo, Northern TerritoryHumpty Doo is a small town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the 2006 census, Humpty Doo had a population of 5,413....
Volunteer Stations
Alice Springs Rural (VFB), Bathurst Island (VFB), Bees Creek (VFB), Howard Springs (VFB), Humpty Doo (VFB), Koolpinyah (VFB), Larrimah (VFB), Virginia (VFB), Yirrkala (VFB), Adelaide River (FERG), Bachelor (FERG), Borroloola (FERG), Elliott (FERG), Mataranka (FERG), Pine Creek (FERG), Timber Creek (FERG)VFB - Volunteer Fire Brigade.
FERG - Fire, Emergency and Rescue Group.
NTFRS Resources
NTFRS Vehicles include 3 heavy duty Freightliner pumps, 2 medium duty Freightliner pumps, 1 medium duty Isuzu pump, an aerial appliance, numerous tankers and grass fire units, plus rescue, command and utility vehicles.The NTFRS also has trailers for Fire Investigation, Rapid Decontamination and a BA trailer for refilling SCBA Cylinders in the field.
Due to the relatively small size of the NTFRS, rather than having dedicated specialised sections, general firefighters are trained in various disciplines, including: HAZMAT
Dangerous goods
Dangerous goods are solids, liquids, or gases that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. They are often subject to chemical regulations. "HazMat teams" are personnel specially trained to handle dangerous goods...
, USAR
Urban search and rescue
Urban search and rescue involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in confined spaces due to natural disasters, structural collapse, transportation accidents, mines and collapsed trenches.USAR teams in different countries may be organised in a...
, Road Crash Rescue
Vehicle extrication
Vehicle extrication is the process of removing the vehicle from around a person that has been involved in a motor vehicle accident, when conventional means of exit are impossible or unadvisable. A delicate approach is needed to minimize injury to the victim during the extrication...
, Paramedic, School Based Education, and Wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
.