Ukarumpa Volunteer Fire Department

The latest pics of the 'new' truck

It has arrived. Starting cleaning out the lockers today.

With a truck on its way, and conducting extinguisher training, the next couple of months may be busier than usual.

Well, the truck is on its' way. Not all the way by road, of course, but to Brisbane to be loaded on a ship. This will be a great improvement in our ability to have a fire response in Ukarumpa and surrounds. Thanks to SIL PNG for making this possible. Now for safe shipping and no problems with customs.

We had our first call for a while, to a smoke alarm in a residence. It showed the advantage of correctly operating smoke detectors, having a good fire extinguisher on hand, and reinforces the need to correctly operate and maintain a fireplace. Fortunately, the biggest task afterwards was the clean-up of the extinguisher powder.

If all goes well, we will have a more up to date fire truck, similar to this in a couple of months. We will still need to raise finances for equipment, but this is a great step forwards.

At best estimate the truck is around 55 years old, and it still goes.

A new email address will be posted once I have access to it. Apologies to anyone who sent a message to the old one recently, we no longer have access to it due to system and security changes.

The Current Fire House and Fire Truck. And yes, the truck could do with a wash.

We are hoping to update our equipment so that we can better serve the community of Ukarumpa and surrounds: not an easy thing to do in a remote town in the Eastern Highlands Province of PNG. Everything has to be bought from overseas and then transported here. Let us know if you might be able to assist.

We are getting closer to being able to get a more modern truck, hopefully we can find out about import costs soon, so we know how much more money is needed.

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How serious are we with fire? It is no secret that we Papua New Guineans are a reactive folk when it comes to prevention and guarding against the forces that cause such calamity as fire can cause.

It's Fire Apparatus Friday

San Antonio (Texas, USA) Airport Fire & Rescue

Oshkosh Striker 6x6, Tier 4 Scania DC16 diesel engine gives 700 hp. Can discharge up to 2000 gallons (7500 litres) per minute from a 3000 gallon (11300 litre) tank)

Photo credit and more information about this fire apparatus can be found at https://www.scania.com/us/en/home/experience-scania/news-and-events/News/2020/04/striker-to-the-rescue.html