SWANSEA Fire Station is gearing up for the next round of the NSW Firefighter Championships after it was put to the test at the latest meet.
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The retained fire station hosted the third round of the championships earlier this month at Quinn Park.
Sixteen other Fire & Rescue NSW and NSW Rural Fire Service teams joined Swansea to battle it out in 11 simulated rescue events.
However, it was an unusually busy period for the Swansea crew, which logged six emergency call-outs that weekend compared to the usual two or three.
One of the incidents was a car crash on the Swansea bridge. The crew spent three hours on the scene.
Despite only being able to compete in six events, Swansea won the urban pump suction category, where the crew had to draught water from the lake.
The station ranked 14th overall, but deputy captain Nathan Tallon was still in good spirits.
"The games come second to real-life emergencies," Mr Tallon said.
The next round of the championships are in October.
EMERGENCY CALLOUT
THE NSW Firefighter Championships were put on hold for the Swansea team, when it was called to a major incident on the Swansea bridge.
The seven-man crew was the first Fire & Rescue NSW unit on the scene, where a car had crashed into a barrier.
Ambulance and police arrived beforehand and tended to the only occupant, the driver, who was uninjured.
The Swansea crew’s first priority was to provide fire protection.
Given there was no hazard, the crew was joined by the Belmont unit to contain oil spills.
Some oil had leaked into the Swansea Channel, but it was deemed safe as the sun diluted it.
Both crews then worked to contain oil on the bridge with sawdust, which was later swept up.
Their next job was to remove the vehicle.
Attempts to tow the car from the barrier were unsuccessful, so the crews constructed a pulley system and used a winch to remove it.
The Swansea crew spent three hours at the incident before returning to the championships.