Noarlunga State Emergency Service

Introduction

Noarlunga State Emergency Service is an emergency response unit and associated staff members within South Australia operating as part of the South Australian State Emergency Service (SASES). The Noarlunga (SASES) unit was founded in 1978 with the core responsibilities of responding to and mitigating the effects of natural disasters, natural weather events, and heatwaves. Noarlunga’s secondary responsibilities include general rescue, industrial rescue, and technical rescue, as well as any other duties prescribed to them under the 2005 South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Act (SAFECOM ACT). Noarlunga Unit is currently based at a compound located on 28 Lindsay Road, Noarlunga; it was formerly located on the junction of Lindsay and Brian Roads.

History

Initially founded in 1978 in the Noarlunga-Christies Beach RSL hall, Noarlunga SES had limited access to equipment and funds. $5000 AUD was awarded to the unit by the local council, and a further $2500 was awarded by the South Australian state government. Initial volunteer numbers hovered between 15 and 25 persons, with skillsets comprising map reading, communications equipment, and first aid. Future meetings were conducted in a Mitsubishi Motors factory canteen. In 1980, Noarlunga Unit began to develop enhanced emergency response capabilities with volunteers constructing three sheds. These three sheds, while modified over the years, became the mainstay of the unit’s buildings until 2023. The sheds were numbered alphanumerically in order of construction and housed various rescue capabilities and equipment. These sheds were painted green by the request of the council. Shed number 1 became a storeroom and later a training room, shed number 2 housed some emergency response vehicles and the unit’s noted specialty of welfare, and shed number 3 notably held trailers and additional response vehicles. Through the unit’s consistent progression and modernization, these sheds have been changed and adapted over time until their ultimate destruction in 2023 due to asbestos contamination and having been made redundant by the unit’s transition to a new compound. Noarlunga unit was noted for its capacity to operate operationally for in excess of 24 hours straight with a full canteen and associated welfare teams managing said canteen. By the early 2000s, the Lindsay-Brian Rd compound would become the state training center for SASES volunteers within South Australia. This training center consisted of a rubble pile for USAR training, a tunnel complex for confined space training, a pit for trench rescue skills, a climbing tower for rope rescue, and various configurable shipping containers designed to mimic rooms. In 2003, Noarlunga Unit received its first standardized heavy rescue vehicle: this truck was an Isuzu 500 with a shell built by Moore Engineering, and this truck stands as a mainstay of Noarlunga SES’s operations. In November 2023, Noarlunga SASES unit officially transitioned to a new purpose-built compound, the first purpose-built station in the unit’s history, located on 28 Lindsay Road.

Uniform

While the uniform for SASES has been standardized since the late 1980s, Noarlunga unit has infamously made its own decisions regarding some articles of clothing, including the use of blue and gold name badges, a holdover from the Civil Defense era of SASES. Noarlunga unit would also gain notoriety for its use of black caps as headwear, a coveted symbol often desired by many a rescuer. Noarlunga’s dominance in the uniform field expanded further to the wearing and usage of PPE for Swiftwater rescue; notable members from Noarlunga SASES attended training courses in Colorado in order to bring Swiftwater rescue skillsets to South Australia.

Skillsets

Noarlunga SASES unit is noted for its substantial and often nation-leading techniques in technical and Swiftwater rescue, often pioneered by a unit stalwart called Trevor Arnold. Noarlunga’s skills include, but are not limited to, Confined Space Rescue, Swiftwater Rescue, General Rescue, Industrial Rescue, Vertical Rescue, Storm and natural hazards response, and land search operations. Noarlunga unit is noted for its large vertical and Swiftwater rescue teams, with the unit possessing the unique capacity to deploy two vertical rescue teams consecutively. Noarlunga unit has, in its time, conducted numerous high-profile rescues, including a cliff rescue at Christies Beach in 2011 and a cliff rescue in Yankalilla in 2024.

Appliances

Noarlunga SASES unit currently has 5 appliances and 6 trailers, as follows:

Vehicles

• Noarlunga 31 Isuzu 500 Heavy Rescue
• Noarlunga 32 Isuzu 500 Heavy Rescue
• Noarlunga 41 Nissan Navara
• Noarlunga 42 Landcruiser
• Noarlunga 43 Nissan Navara

Trailers

• Noarlunga Shoring, USAR, and Storm Response
• Operational Support and IMT
• Flatbed
• Sandbag filling Machine
• Confined Space Rescue and SCBA
• High Volume Pump

References

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