Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) News

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is bolstering its forward pack, adding two more elite sporting clubs to a partnership program supporting firefighters’ health and wellbeing. The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Western Sydney Wanderers have now signed onto the Tactical Athlete Resilience Program (TARP), a unique initiative which officially launched in August following a successful trial. TARP gives FRNSW firefighters access to the first class strength and conditioning coaches, physiotherapi...

A person has died in a fire at Quaker's Hill, in Sydney's west. The blaze took hold in a garage attached to a home in Mannix Place just after 6.15 pm.Eight fire trucks rushed to the single-storey home where firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, attacked the flames and thick, black smoke. Authorities discovered a body inside the garage. Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators Two other people suffered smoke inhalation at the scene. They were treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics.  Fi...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews are at the scene of a multi-vehicle pile-up on the M1 Motorway at Mooney Mooney. Five FRNSW trucks, along with the Rural Fire Service, rushed to the scene of two separate crashes near the north-bound M1 off-ramp after reports of a motorist possibly trapped in the wreckage around 11.20 am. No reports of serious injuries In the first crash, four cars collided, while moments later, a second impact occurred, involving three more vehicles. The wreckage blocked al...

Two people, who survived a light plane crash this morning near Wentworth, in the state's far south-west, are now being treated in hospital for minor injuries. The 'Jabiru' ultralight lost power just before midday now forcing the pilot to attempt a landing in a flooded paddock near the Silver City Highway and the Wentworth aerodrome. The plane clipped trees and crash-landed. Fire and Rescue NSW crews Fire and Rescue NSW crews from Wentworth reached the pilot and his passenger on foot, work...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews are responding to a fire which engulfed a truck before spreading into bushland in South Windsor, north-west of Sydney, this afternoon. The vehicle was loaded with highly-flammable hand sanitizer when it erupted in flames while parked on a property on George St, just before 2:30pm. Strong winds fanned the blaze, causing it to quickly spread over several acres. The fire went on to destroy a second truck and a storage shed, and at one stage burned close to a neigh...

Fire and Rescue NSW has welcomed the government’s announcement of an additional $34.3m towards its flood response capability, declaring it will fund more in-water rescue technicians, vehicles and equipment. The funding commitment for FRNSW is part of an overall $159.5m investment in flood capability across the state and has been delivered following the Independent Inquiry into the NSW flood disaster. In August, the Inquiry handed down 28 recommendations around the way NSW prepares for, r...

More than 40 Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) stations now display traditional indigenous nation names on their trucks, alongside existing geographical names, in the first tranche of a state-wide rollout. The nation naming conventions, officially announced in a ceremony today at the Emergency Services Academy in Sydney’s west, not only recognize original custodianship but further embed Aboriginal languages and insights in mainstream consciousness. The approach has successfully been undertaken...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have battled explosions and large blaze in a vehicle scrap yard at Trenayr, north of Grafton, in the state's northern rivers district. More than 15 fire trucks responded to the emergency in Trenayr Road, just before 6pm. The fire took hold in rows of scrapped cars, stacked up to 10 vehicles high, and sent a large plume of black, toxic smoke into the sky. A firefighter received a head injury whilst fighting the blaze. She was admitted to hospital for observatio...

Confronting new video from Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) demonstrates just how quickly Christmas decorations can become fire hazards, with the potential to destroy a home faster than it takes to microwave your festive lunch leftovers. The controlled demonstration video shows a power board arcing and igniting, due to an overload of household appliances and Christmas lights, before causing the entire room to explode in flames in less than three minutes. FRNSW wants to prevent Christmas catastrophe...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have evacuated around 50 people during a gas leak in a North Sydney apartment building. It's believed workers severed a gas main at the William Street site, just before 12.30pm. NSW Police helped firefighters from Crows Nest and Neutral Bay to clear the adjacent building. The fire crews have established two lines of hose as a protective measure and are monitoring atmospheric levels as gas company technicians attempt to repair the leak, which could take some tim...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have stopped a major fire from destroying a public school overnight at Orange in the state's central west. The blaze took hold on the top floor of a two-story building in the Maxwell Avenue school around 10.30pm, causing the roof to collapse. Seven FRNSW trucks and four Rural Fire Service tankers rushed to the scene where a number of classrooms and the school's library were ablaze. Support from NSW Police, NSW Ambulance NSW Police, NSW Ambulance and energy c...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is adding four high-tech, state-of-the-art aerial platform appliances to its fleet, further bolstering its emergency response capability across Sydney and the Central Coast. The ladder pumper appliances, each valued at $2.5m, feature an advanced, environmentally-friendly Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) that uses a special mix of foam and water to fight fires, promoting water conservation in the process. The first of four new CAFS Aerial Platforms (CAPs) coming on-...

A Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighter has been surprised with a visit from a road crash victim whose life he helped save late last year. The last time Riverstone Fire Captain David Richards saw Lee Knight, in October, the motorcyclist was moments from death on the side of the road outside the fire station in Sydney's west. Mr Knight was riding home after a friend’s funeral when his motorcycle struck the side of a car. Bike accident Captain Richards heard the impact from the station...

Details have emerged about the extraordinary use of drone technology to rescue a seriously injured rock fisherman, reported missing after falling off a cliff at Eden, on the state’s far south coast, earlier this month. At 7.51 am on Sunday, 2 April, the Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crew from Eden was involved in the search for the angler at The Lookout. The man was fishing with three friends when he fell and landed on a ledge, 50 meters down the rocky, tapered cliff, badly breaking a leg....

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators, examining the scene of Sydney’s latest Lithium-Ion battery fire, are urging the public to safely store and charge the cells outside the home if possible. Just after 9 am on Friday, 14 April, an e-bike battery, on charge in the lounge room of a duplex in Sydney Road, Balgowlah, began to suddenly overheat in a process known as “Thermal Runaway.” A family of four inside the home heard a ‘popping’ noise as the battery began d...

The sparks will fly next Tuesday when Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) takes on a combined Australian Defence Force side in a curtain raiser to the NRL ANZAC Day match at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium. FRNSW has welcomed the opportunity of playing before the traditional Sydney Roosters – St George Illawarra game, in honour of the nation’s past and present servicemen and women. FRNSW has a long association with the ADF, through the military service of hundreds of firefighters in conflic...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have battled for more than an hour to extinguish a blaze that destroyed a home in Sydney's south-west. Twenty FRNSW firefighters were called in to attack the blaze, which engulfed the two-story property on Riverside Drive, Airds, just before 5 am. The intensity of the fire and radiant heat made conditions too dangerous for crews to enter the building to conduct a search for potential occupants. Extinguishing the fire They stopped the inferno from spreading t...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators are now at the scene of a house fire, which has claimed the lives of two people in Sydney's south-west. Neighbors phoned Triple-Zero (000) around 6:45 am as the property in Lily Street, Wetherill Park became engulfed in flames and their own attempts to rescue the occupants proved unsuccessful. FRNSW immediately deployed 24 firefighters and six fire trucks. Fire crews When fire crews arrived on-scene, they used tools to force their way into the home&...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is further encouraging respectful and honest conversations and the sharing of Traditional Knowledge by opening a Yarning Circle at its training center at Orchard Hills, in Sydney’s west. Officially unveiled off the back of NAIDOC Week, the new outdoor space at the Emergency Services Academy (ESA) is a tangible step towards Reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people. It is lined with a dozen sandstone blocks fo...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have rescued a Pomeranian precariously perched on the side of an apartment building at Wentworth Point, in Sydney's west. Firefighters were called around 9:45 last night to the complex on Burroway Road, where the dog, named 'Cash', was stuck on a ledge on the 7th floor. Among the FRNSW resources deployed to the scene was a ladder truck, which allowed trained personnel to safely reach the higher floors to retrieve 'Cash'. Fire crews The balance of the mission...

Senior firefighters have expressed concern over a sharp rise in residential fires in New South Wales this winter, urging the public to end the complacency over household smoke alarms. There were 337 residential fires in the first month of winter this year, an increase of 24 fires (8%) over June 2022. There’s been a 28% rise in kitchen/cooking area fires over the same period, from 117 to 150, while fires in bedrooms/sleeping areas have risen 19% from 26 to 31. Fires in lounge rooms The...

The bravery and dedication of 80 firefighters from Newcastle and Lake Macquarie will be formally recognized tonight at a special Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) awards ceremony. Firefighters, from a range of the 20 fire stations across the Metropolitan North 1 region, have been awarded National Emergency Medals during the function at Wallsend. There were 11,774 fires fought across 5.5 million hectares during the Black Summer crisis. That represents around seven per cent of the state. Strike Teams...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have converged on Merriwa, in the upper Hunter, this week to doorknock the entire town with winter fire safety advice. It is the first proactive blitz of its kind in the Hunter Valley, with firefighters offering to inspect homes for fire risks and check smoke alarms are in working condition. There have been at least 337 residential fires in NSW homes so far this winter (an 8% rise) with 44% of properties not featuring a working smoke alarm. NSW house fires T...

A Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) canine unit is at the scene of a fatal house fire at Johns River, on the state's mid-coast. A man, aged in his 70s, was killed in the blaze which engulfed the property on Riddles Brush Road just after 10:30 pm last night. Eight FRNSW firefighters assisted four NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) crews in the almost five-hour-long battle to contain and extinguish the flames. Residential fire The fire was so intense that the entire roof collapsed, limiting firefighte...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) veteran Inspector Craig Davies today has handed over his firefighting duties to son James, calling time on his 40-year career of protecting and educating communities against emergencies. Despite completing an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in his younger years, Inspector Davies knew all along he was destined to become a firefighter. After all, his father, two uncles, and a cousin had all worked as firemen, giving him an early taste of what brigade life was li...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators have determined a tobacco pipe sparked a fire at Seven Hills, in Sydney's north-west, which injured two people last night. The blaze broke out at the back of a Seven Hills Road home around 10:30 pm. The occupants - a pregnant 30-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man - were asleep and only alerted to the danger when their dog began barking. NSW Ambulance paramedics They escaped moments before the timber property was destroyed by flames, fueled by mater...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators will examine the scene of a major gas fire at a service station last night at Fairfield, in Sydney's south-west. Around 50 firefighters responded to numerous 200kg LPG cylinders alight at the service station in Sackville Street, at about 6.30 pm. They were confronted by a huge, intense fire, threatening to spread to adjacent homes. HAZMAT firefighters 15 residents rushed to safety as fire crews cooled the venting gas cylinders. Fire crews gained con...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews have extinguished a major factory fire in Sydney's south-west. Just before 4 am this morning, a Triple Zero (000) emergency call alerted firefighters to a plastic pipe manufacturing business, engulfed by flames on Woodpark Rd, Smithfield. FRNSW rushed 25 trucks and more than 100 firefighters to the scene to deal with the fire that was raging through part of the factory, with flames bursting through the roof. Extremely significant fire It was declared a '10 a...

His younger colleagues lovingly call him “the dinosaur,” and after five decades of serving the public, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Station Officer Fred Parkhouse, has called ‘time’ on his career. 68-year-old Fred joined NSW Fire Brigades, as it was known then, as a teenager and progressed through the ranks, learning all aspects of firefighting and rescue work. Fire and Rescue NSW Duty Commander, Chris Bishop, says Fred is still as keen to protect the community as the da...

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews are at the scene of a helicopter crash in Sydney's south-west. Two people were aboard the single-engine aircraft when it plummeted to the ground at the Bankstown Aerodrome in Airport Avenue, near Marion Street, just before 2 pm. The propeller and part of the fuselage sustained significant damage as the chopper came to rest on its side. Hazardous materials response FRNSW deployed 10 firefighters and three fire trucks to the scene. Both occupants, believed to...