Eight swift Queensland Fire and Rescue officers and two flood boats have arrived in Kooralbyn to assist local firefighters with probable impacts of Cyclone Alfred.
As the cyclone moved nearer to the coast of Queensland on 6 March, the specialised firefighters from Cairns and Port Douglas arrived in town and wasted no time in scoping out potential risk areas.
On 7 March with winds becoming stronger, an overnight power outage and debris strewn across local roads, the two flood boats and their crews were a welcome sight to residents of Kooralbyn.
Even in average heavy rain events, Hinchliffe Bridge, which is in the process of being replaced, often becomes inundated, leaving half the town cut off.
Without a police, SES or ambulance stations, Kooralbyn relies solely on their auxiliary fire crew in times of disaster.
The extra crew members, headed by Port Douglas Station Officer Rory Kelliher and Cairns Station Officer Andrew Lacey, said they would be based at Kooralbyn for the duration and would be available to assist in other areas should the need arise and it was safe to do so.
“We’re a little bit fluid,” Kelliher said.
“Our aim is to have a team here to provide access through to the other side where it gets cut off.
“We’re in the preparation phase at the moment. Everyone’s in location, talking to the locals, finding out where the risks are, then if things kick off we’ll be in response phase and after that we’ll go straight from swiftwater into damage assessments, which allows .”
The boats were tested on the Kooralbyn Billabong with officers in full rescue gear.
“At the moment we’re a swiftwater team, we’ve got chainsaw kits and stuff like that on the vehicles but our primary focus is to support the Captain and his team,” Kelliher said.
Station Officer Lacey said they were happy with the accommodation at The Kooralbyn Valley resort.
“We’ve all slept in fire stations on stretchers … staying in a resort is pretty fancy,” he said.
“Most of the time when teams deploy we’ll carry our own stretchers, swags sleeping bags and ration packs. The main aim is to get in and do our job.”
