Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services thank the majority of the public for their behaviour on Friday night however, it was disappointing to see that some of our firefighters had to deal with people acting irresponsibly with fireworks.
The Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service responded to 119 grass fires in a 24 hour period from 1 July, and six structure fires.
"Crews were called to reports of fire being seen from the seventh floor of a high-rise building on Smith Street. Upon arrival, a large plastic rubbish bin filled with spent fireworks was on fire. Fortunately, the fire was put out and there was no serious structural damage, but it was poor decision making on the part of those who set fireworks off from a high-rise building because the incident might have turned out very differently if the building had caught fire."
The total number of incidents attended to by NTFRS, over the weekend included:
- 231 x Grassfires
- 14 x Rubbish bin fires
- 13 x Structure fires
- 2 x Hazmat
- 31 x Automatic fire alarms
- 34 x Road crash
- 1 x Fatal pedestrian collision
- 6 x Vehicle fire
It was a massive effort from our volunteer firefighters as well, with over 100 volunteers assisting the rostered duty crews, said Mr Fischer.
The Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre (JESCC) received a total of 870 Triple 000 calls and 147 calls to 131 444 relating to fire or fireworks from 0900hrs 1 July to 1200hrs 4 July.
"I'd like to also make a special mention to the JESCC operators who were receiving the calls and tasking out the jobs to members on the ground. Cracker Night is always challenging but they did an exceptional effort at coordinating the crews who were trying to attend multiple jobs at a time."
The public are urged to stay vigilant as fire conditions continue across the Top End region.
"There were a number of callouts over the weekend, where crews were dealing with fires as a result of people still letting off fireworks.
"The possession of fireworks period has now concluded. Members of the public can contact NT WorkSafe on 1800 019 115 to arrange handing fireworks in, or alternatively attend a police station front counter," said Mr Fischer.
