SYDNEY — Firefighters are spending up to 16 hours at a time on the Adelaide Hills fireground, leaving some severely fatigued and hallucinating.
Courier Mail reported that one firefighter said he left home to battle the blaze at 6.30 p.m. on Saturday and did not return until 7 p.m. the following night.
“By the afternoon I was hallucinating and not able to maintain a conversation,” he said “On the fireground, (I was) very slow to react due to extreme fatigue.”
The firefighter blamed the long shifts on poor crew management.
“No one was actually (keeping) tabs on times that crews were out there. Local CFS crews were doing six- to eight-hour shifts while strike teams that had driven two hours-plus where doing 12 to 16 hours.”
The firefighter said the long shifts were dangerous and he likened the situation to “fighting a fire drunk,” according to the report.
Another firefighter said medics treated him for severe fatigue after being on the fireground from Saturday evening to mid-Sunday.
“Ambos pumped me full of glucose,” he said. “I then took Monday off work to recover.”
The firefighter said volunteers were exhausted at the end of each shift and many still had long drives home ahead of them.
“If I was doing that normally, my log book for driving a heavy vehicle only allows 12 hours’ work/drive time,” he said. “More resources (would) definitely help and more effective management of crew changes.
About 30 people, mainly firefighters suffering smoke inhalation, have been injured during the blaze.
CFS spokesman Daniel Hamilton said the organization would review the way it fought the Adelaide Hills fires once it was under control.
“No one would be expecting them to stay out there when they’re feeling unwell,” Hamilton said. “It’s a 12-hour shift and if people want to go a bit longer and if they feel okay, they can.”
A spokesman for Emergency Services Minister Tony Piccolo said his office had not received any complaints from firefighters and he understood volunteers could leave the fireground at any time.