Iluka Rural Fire Service

31/05/2026

31/05/2026

31/05/2026

This weekend the weather cleared fortunately, for the Clarence RFS “Trim Felled Trees” course.
This course is about, as the name implies, clearing and trimming fallen trees, not standing trees, which is the next level up.
We thank our 3 members Mark, Byron and Oscar for giving up Thursday evening and the whole weekend (with early starts and late finishes), to complete this course.
We now have 5 TFT qualified Chain Saw operators, which is comforting to know with the regular big storms we get on the Coast.
Of course it’s also handy to clear fallen trees off a fire trail if you need to!

19/05/2026

ICOPE (Iluka Community Organisation Planning for Emergencies) organised a great all day event on a drizzly wet Tuesday.
Kieran from the NSW Reconstruction Authority set up a BIG new fabric map on the floor at Club Iluka showing some of the catchment of the Clarence.
The detail on this map was exceptional and a red dot sticker was provided and placed on participants homes.
A simulated 2029 flood event was overlayed on the map also showing the areas potentially impacted!
An SES crew came over from Yamba and were very keen to get this BIG map over to the Yamba community in the near future.
Kieran also had a short video clip running that had some exceptional footage of previous flooding events along with some good animation.
Kieran spent the day chatting to everyone and we thank ICOPE for organising this excellent event.

05/05/2026

We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic incident that occurred last night and the passing of two Marine Rescue NSW members. Our thoughts are with their family, friends, colleagues and all those affected by this incident.

Last night was the darkest night ever experienced by Marine Rescue NSW.

Marine Rescue NSW volunteers answer the call for help 24/7 and last night six members from Marine Rescue Ballina did just that. They launched with a single mission, to save lives on the water and assist a yacht, reported to be in difficulty off the South Ballina break wall.

Tragically, two of our volunteers lost their lives during the response.

Marine Rescue NSW Commissioner Todd Andrews said the devastating loss is a solemn reminder of the risks faced by volunteers who serve their communities.

“These two men were serving their local community and have made the ultimate sacrifice to help others.

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of the deceased, their fellow crew members, the brave radio operators who handled the difficult communications during the incident, the entire Marine Rescue NSW family and the wider Ballina community during this incredibly difficult time.

“We are supporting our volunteers and their families through professional counselling and chaplaincy support.

“We ask that the privacy of those involved and their families be respected during this difficult time,” Commissioner Andrews said.

02/05/2026

Never a dull moment in the RFS.
What was meant to be a low key station cleanup in preparation for a station inspection mid next week, turned into a call out that we nearly missed☺️
Apparently an excavator caught alight on the big heap at the Harwood Sugar Mill!
We were all at the station but because a noisy vacuum cleaner and cordless blower were going we nearly all missed the callout alert on our phones. Luckily one astute person picked it up!
Must have been the fastest response we’ve had seeing we were right there☺️
We got called off just before Woombah though.
A number of local brigades attended the incident🙏🤙

29/04/2026

The brigade had some regular outdoor training planned yesterday afternoon and fortunately the captain had a wet weather plan up his sleeve or we all would have got drenched otherwise.
As a village Brigade that’s quite isolated, additional skill sets are needed.
So we do spend a bit of time practicing casualty lifts and CPR.
We just added a slide sheet to each truck, which can come in handy for a quick extraction or moving a casualty through tight hall and doorways.
We also have AED’s in the trucks and we practice regularly.
We are lucky to have a recently retired nurse and a current nurse join our Brigade and able to help with this type of training.

27/04/2026

The tragic news of 2 children perishing in a house fire in the Blue Mountains and the tough decision firefighters had to make to not enter the burning house because of the enormous risk to firefighters, is truly devastating for all concerned.
As we approach winter and the weather cools, it’s a timely reminder to check and service if necessary,all heating appliances (be they gas, electric or wood) and to check and test smoke alarms throughout the home.
Never overload power boards and be sensible when charging all battery devices and make sure heaters are at least a meter away from combustible materials!
Please read the winter check list below.

24/04/2026

We were invited to the Iluka Community Hall yesterday as guest presenters to talk about kitchen fires and safely using fire blankets and extinguishers.
The vibrant group of people participating as Iluka Circle of Friends made us very welcome!
Just prior to our talk, the group did about an hour of Yoga with Kylie.
We stayed and enjoyed a delicious lunch afterwards.

Later that evening Iluka 1 with a crew of 4 responded to an MVA (motor vehicle accident) in town, conducting traffic control and ready to suppress any possible fire while the injured were being stabilised and transported by ambulance to hospital.
We continued on with traffic control while the tilt tray removed the damaged vehicles from the scene, returning back to the station after a couple of wet hours.
After any incident like this we have an informal debrief or an AAR (after action review) to see what we did well, and what we can do better next time, before we all headed home.

12/04/2026

The Brigade headed off locally yesterday afternoon for training with about 10 crew members in our trucks, Iluka 7 and Iluka 1.
Consolidating the basics of drafting water into appliances, deploying live reels and 38mm hoses and as always working together in teams and doing everything with safety at the heart of everything we do.