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th August 13 Firefighter Andrew Wood is on exchange in Victoria from Melbourne, Australia for one year. He’s already witnessed some subtle differences on how fires are fought differently between the two countries.
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City makes changes to bridge project internal operations
Andrea Peacock News staff
Firefighter up, firefighter down Firefighters Andrew Wood and Rob Rutherford switches jobs for one year in unique international exchange Andrea Peacock News staff
While a Victoria firefighter is down under dodging kangaroos on his bicycle, an Australian firefighter is in Victoria layering up to keep out the colder weather. The reason? It’s the result of an international exchange in which two families have swapped lives for one year. Andrew Wood, lead firefighter at the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in Melbourne, Australia arrived in Victoria with his wife in mid-March. For the last two years, he’s worked with both the Melbourne Fire
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Brigade and Victoria Fire Department to coordinate the exchange with Victoria firefighter Rob Rutherford. The first exchange through the Victoria Fire Department occurred around 1999, said Victoria Fire Chief Paul Bruce, when one firefighter went to Perth, Australia. The last exchange was about 10 years ago. Throughout the years, there were several inquiries from firefighters in Australia, New Zealand and Victoria about the possibility of an exchange. It was not until Rutherford and Wood got connected and pursued the idea that anything came of it. “These requests always piqued
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my interest as I felt that an exchange would provide me and my family with tremendous career and life experiences,” said Rutherford. Rutherford, who is now living in Melbourne with his wife and two daughters, is doing a complete house and car swap with Wood. Wood said the biggest shocks when he got here were the cold and the bigger food portions. “[I’m] having to keep the exercise up while I’m over here,” he said. One thing Rutherford said he misses is being able to function as a family without a vehicle as they do in Victoria. “Work is now an hour-long commute into Melbourne by train instead of a 10 minute walk,” said Rutherford.
The City of Victoria has begun making internal operational changes to the $92.8-million Johnson Street Bridge replacement project after an independent review last month questioned its viability. Consultant Jonathan Huggett, who has since been named interim project director, put forth eight recommendations to fix the project. Mayor Dean Fortin said the city is already putting them into place, in hopes the project can still finish on time and on budget. “We were surprised to hear what Huggett had to say,” said Fortin, “but we’re grateful the review came early. We still have time to take corrective measures.” Among the recommendations are a change in leadership, which the review most heavily criticized. The report also found cooperation between the city and their various contractors was lacking. Along with the city appointing Huggett as project director, PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. and MMM Group have also replaced their leadership in an attempt to repair the strained relationships among each other.
PLEASE SEE: Firefighters learn new skills, Page A12
PLEASE SEE: Bridge expected to open on time in 2016, Page A15
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