CYCLONE UPDATE: Assistant Fire Commissioner Mark Stuart

Moyra and Big Trev caught up with Assistant Fire Commissioner Mark Stuart about the currents status and how the Emergency Services can help during the cyclone.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, obviously giving you up to date. All afternoon,

(00:02):
we are live. We are finding out all the information
that you need. We do have the Queensland Fire and
Rescue Assistant Commissioner Mark Stewart on the phone. Good afternoon, Mark,
A very very busy week for all of you.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yes, very busy week in preparations for TC Alfred.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
I love TC Alfred.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
We'll say big ol. The TC Alfred sounds good.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah, I like that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
How are the crews preparing for the cyclone?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah? Look, our plans have been commencing for about a
week now and we've actually got about forty four additional
swift water rescue personnel from Queensland Fine Rescue Station in
the region at the moment. And that's on top of
one hundred odd swift water Level two technicians we already
have in the region. In addition to that, we also

(00:49):
have all of our firefighters that are all Level one
trained and auxiliary firefighters that are out there to serve
the community if anybody gets stuck in a city situation,
they shouldn't be. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
And are they volunteers as well helping with sandbagging around
the coast most definitely.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
So we have our real Fire Service Queensland volunteers that
are assisting with the sandbagging side of things, but they're
also busy planning for the recovery efforts. So our RFS
volunteers are real key assistance to the community. If people
are impacted, need wash outs, maybe getting out there with
chainsaws and helping create access for other services to get around.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, you mentioned your swift water and your firefighters are
all out there. What do we need to do if
we find ourselves in trouble and we can't get in
touch with those guys.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, the first thing you can do, whether it's yourself
or you see somebody and you're not sure if triplo's
been called, call as soon as possible. But I really
encourage people to try and stay off the roads if
they can, try and stay home, if they haven't already
evacuated to somewhere that might be out of the path
and a little safer for them anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Advice for gold Coasters obviously, just stay.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Safe, batten down the hatches and be prepared. Just stay
off the road if you can, and look out for
your neighbors and family as well. Just keep an eye
on everyone around you.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
That's awesome. Thank you so much, all the best, thank
you have.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
A great afternoon light and vig tram

Speaker 3 (02:16):
For the driver one day to night, not tomorrow.