This week’s news: firies put heat on solar panels

Australia
ACT/NSW: Firies put heat on solar panels.

Firefighters want better safeguards when facing the dangers posed by the country's fastest-growing source of renewable energy. Fire and Rescue NSW wants solar panels equipped with a power shut-off capability at the meter box to lessen the risk of live power running through the roof. The Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authority Council is researching the potential dangers of the increasingly popular technology.

WA: Graziers' cry for more fire crews
Pastoralists say bureaucratic red tape is hampering efforts to fight two massive fires that have burnt more than 682,000 hectares throughout Western Australia's vast range lands in the remote Murchison and Gascoyne area around the far mid-west town of Carnarvon.

Vic: Fire services medal for Woodend man in Australia Day honours
A Woodend firefighter has been awarded a prestigious Australian Fire Services Medal as part of this year’s Australia Day Honours.
Australia Day awards go to firefighters and police.

SA: Blaze still burning in Wilpena Pound
A fire is still burning in scrub along the northern ridges of Wilpena Pound in South Australia's Flinders Ranges. About 90 firefighters are attending the blaze,

International
UK: Pensions latest: Government delays and opt out concerns
The Fire Brigades Union's two new circulars; the first explains why the government missed its own deadline to make its pension proposals for firefighters. The secondprovides advice on opt outs.

USA: D.C. push for controversial change in firefighters’ work shifts
Chief wants a change from the current 24-72 system to three consecutive 12-hour shifts during the day, three consecutive 12-hour shifts at night and three days rest.

UK: Fitness at work report
The FBU’s pensions campaign has included the operational requirements of firefighting. A large number of fire authorities currently utilise aerobic capacity as one measure of firefighter fitness. Dr Richard Graveling from the Institute of Occupational Medicine produced this report, Fitness for work: Estimate of the deterioration of the aerobic fitness of firefighters with age, for the FBU.

USA: International Association of Fire Fighters V. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board
The International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 22, AFL-CIO (Local 22) petitions for review of the September 21, 2010, order of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (Board) determining that Fire Service Paramedics (FSPs) are not firefighters under the statute commonly known as Act 111.2 We reverse.

USA: IAFF Human Relations Conference
The 20th conference was designed to build solidarity among brother and sister fire fighters as they explored the differences that divide and unite them in the firehouse. Watch the opening session: IAFF General President Harold Schaitbergerand U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.

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