A GOODS train on fire in Nana Glen at 2am on Monday (7 Feb) saw the local Rural Fire Brigade in action responding to the emergency.

“The train on fire had been brought in to loop Morrows Road; I live nearby so as I drove out to the station I passed it and could formulate a bit of a plan,” Glenn Locke, Acting Captain Nana Glen RFS told News Of The Area.

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“We were also able to get a bit of info from an app that we use.

“The quick-thinking drivers had done a great job isolating the middle locomotive which was on fire, separating off the front and back locos.

“It was pretty obvious to us that it was an electric fire, the battery was on fire.”

There was a lot of smoke and a significant amount of heat.

“It could have gone up, but we got straight into cooling it down fast.

“Fire and Rescue/HAZMAT crews from Coffs Harbour and Woolgoolga arrived on the scene and Coramba RFS did a fantastic job of running things from the roadside, relaying water from town and refilling Nana Glen 1 truck.”

“We worked really well with each other and what was a complex incident ran really well.

“We’ve had some really good feedback.

“We had a discussion back at the station afterwards and it was about 5am when I got home.

“I find it hard to wind down after a job like that.

“I had a cup of tea and got on with the rest of my day,” said Glenn, sharing that he did have a well-deserved nanna-nap at lunchtime.

“It’s hard to train for that sort of thing.

“Operating pumps and deploying hoses is a basic skill that we all have.

“As a crew leader, I follow a standard procedure for incidents that can scale up or down depending on what it is.

“It’s just a matter of going through the incident in front of you step by step.

“As long as I keep a cool head the assistance that I need will arrive.”

Another strength the RFS has is the life experience of its volunteers.

“My crew on Monday morning consisted of an ex-police officer, a truck driver, a chef and a heavy machinery operator.

“We all have skills that transfer.

“None of us had any experience with train fires but we were all able to work as a team and back each other up under pressure.

“After experiencing the 2019/2020 fires we are a pretty close team.

“We know that we have each other’s backs.

“The old hands look after the rookies and pass on their experience,” said Glenn.

By Andrea FERRARI