Not strictly related to the Antarctic Fire Department, but if you're interested in the remoteness aspect of it - you'll likely enjoy reading https://brr.fyi/ which is an account of living/working at the South Pole and has been featured on HN several times in the past.
I've looked into this before, and it seems like they got Starlink recently-ish (within the past couple years or so). A google search of "inurl:reddit mcmurdo starlink" brings up a few hits from /r/antarctica.
Antarctica, simultaneously, seems like the hardest place in the world for fire to do it's thing (Everything is ice) and the worst place in the world to be a fire fighter (your hose is full of ice).
I'm probably stating the obvious, but any human stuff is definitely flammable. What do they do for heat anyway? I'd imagine they use oil or gas, which sounds like a big logistic challenge away from any ports.
Anyway, I'd imagine they mainly get oil/gas fires or electrical fires, for which it'd be better to use foam or whatever is best for electrical. If they use water, they'd keep the hoses dry and warm and use a de-icer like glycol.
> I'm probably stating the obvious, but any human stuff is definitely flammable.
It is also very dry.
> What do they do for heat anyway?
Waste heat from the diesel gensets providing our electricity, supplemented by additional diesel burners.
> big logistic challenge away from any ports
It is, we (Davis station) have storage for about a year and a half worth of fuel, and refuel via icebreaker bunkerage once a year.
> Anyway, I'd imagine they mainly get oil/gas fires or electrical fires, for which it'd be better to use foam or whatever is best for electrical. If they use water, they'd keep the hoses dry and warm and use a de-icer like glycol.
We use dry chemical extinguishers as a first response. Most buildings have sprinklers and sensitive areas have hi-fog. We have a Hagglund (tracked vehicle) with a water tank and pump and can hook up to the ring main at hydrants around station.
Unlike McMurdo we don't have dedicated fire-fighters so we all got a week of firefighting training before departure and a third of the station is on call at any time as the emergency response team.
We have CO2 extinguishers near server rooms and switchboards and I believe some of the electrical infrastructure does use gaseous suppression.
But yes, if a fire alarm occurs: the entire station gathers at the muster point while the on call ERT goes to the fire cold porch and the emergency vehicle shelter. From there the on duty team lead and an electrician don fire turnout gear and take dry chem fire extinguishers to the site of the alarm, the first BA team don their breathing apparatus and follow the instructions of the team lead and the second BA team prepares the firefighting Hagglund for deployment.
> Do you know of any notable fire events at your station?
Not at my station, Davis. Mawson has had a few historically but I think the program overall has avoided any fires that threatened life or property for a few decades.
There was a fire in the engine room of the icebreaker MPV Everest that retrieved the Davis crew a few years ago and the ERT from the station assisted in firefighting.
> Are you accessing this site via satellite from there?
Yes, there are no fibre cables to Antarctica. We have a connection provided by the government using multiple satellite links as backhaul (ANARESAT, some alternate geostationary satellite and soon Starlink) plus one of the expeditioners* has a personal Starlink that we contribute to and utilise communally.
* unlike other Antarctic programs, Australia has decided to stick with the 'expeditioner' title from the olden days of exploration.
> the hardest place in the world for fire to do it's thing (Everything is ice)
I wondered, as IIRC newspaper doesn't burn (sustained) on top of Everest (9 km)... But it seems trash is burned (or buried) in "highest permanently inhabited place" La Rinconada Peru (5 km). South Pole is only 3 km, and Antarctica's Mount Vinson is 5 km. Though nicely cold. Anoxic caves like Movile Cave seem a pO2 equivalent of 6 to 9 km.
Pursuant to sub-paragraph (b) of article 3 of Annex II to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty[1], a permit to "kill, injure, capture, handle or molest" penguins may be issued "to provide specimens for…other…cultural institutions or uses," which could arguably include bowling.
Hard to find a good source, but this listicle [0] mentions wages around $150.000 for jobs like refueler, cook, communications officer, plumber, sparkie etc, and over 200K for a doctor or station leader. There's perks, bonuses etc on top of that. I wonder if they pay for their own room and board or if that's one of the perks; given they have a cook I suspect they have communal food at least.
I happen to be in Antarctica right now employed by the Australian program that you linked to.
> There's perks, bonuses etc on top of that.
No, the 150,000-170,000 pay range for most of us (everyone but the station leader and doctor) is inclusive of all our allowances. There are a few extra duties like deputy station leader and fire chief that get an additional allowance.
> I wonder if they pay for their own room and board or if that's one of the perks; given they have a cook I suspect they have communal food at least.
All food and accomodation (and utilities, internet, phone calls, recreational equipment and trips, cold weather survival clothing) is provided to us. I have essentially zero expenses.
This is both incredibly cool and also somehow such a HN moment. Of course there's someone here who's currently stationed in Antarctica.
Out of curiosity, since I've always had the idea of visiting one day, what do you reckon is the most feasible way to do so, short of stationing there for a living like you are?
Well this is my fourth time down so my recommendation is to figure out how to work down here - it is by far the most cost effective way to experience it!
I don't have much familiarity with the tourism side. The majority of tourist will go via cruises out of Ushuaia to the Antarctic peninsula and sub-Antarctic islands. The advice I've always heard is to go with the smallest ship you can as there are IAATO regulations on how many passengers can go ashore per ship per day and you want to maximise opportunities to get ashore. Price can vary a lot depending on cabin, quality of the operator and last minute deals to fill berths.
If you have a lot of money (>100k USD) burning a hole in your pocket then there are high-end tourist camps run by groups like Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions and White Desert that will fly you to the continent and then around to penguin rookeries, mountain climbing and the South Pole.
As an ex-firefighter not based out of antarctica, you are absolutely right. Sea water is extremely damaging to pumps. We use it as a last resort, and often have to refurb pumps when we do.
Recently I learned about cats starting fires. Cat arsonists leap up onto kitchen counter tops and walk across the glass hob with touch buttons to turn the hob on. A chip pan fire then ensues.
Because of the rise in fires cause by cat arsonists, the British fire services now carry oxygen masks for cats. Since there is a reasonable chance that a house fire is caused by a cat arsonist, it only makes sense to take the cat-sized oxygen mask. They don't want the culprits deceased if they are to interrogate them.
There are two grains of truth in the above tall tale, the fire service do carry oxygen masks for cats and cats do start fires from walking on hob buttons. Put together it sounds ludicrously credible, verging on urban myth.
I now need to work on 'penguin arsonists' to combine with the fact that there is an Antarctic fire service.
A husky famously caused a fire on a physical control stove top when he tried to get pizza which sat on top of the stove top. There’s videos (everyone survived including the dog)
Of which state? Why would it matter? They just want to know that a regional authority has given you a test to confirm that you know how to operate a motor vehicle and that you passed,
just like renting a car.
It's incredible to think of people living and working in such an unyielding environment, committed to both protecting life and safeguarding one of the last untouched ecosystems on Earth...
I went camping with an EMS/Paramedic that did a stint at McMurdo station. He rode along with the fire crew, and one of their main off-base jobs was working ARFF on their rather difficult runway. IIRC, some of the planes would intentionally drop fuel pods, which then need to monitored while they burned off.
Ultimately, EMS/Paramedic spent most of his time performing his secondary duty - clearing the runway of penguins. They were not allowed to touch them, so they were instructed to keep their hands in the air and shimmy sideways in order to shoo them to safety. He did demonstrate this penguin shooing dance to us around the fire, which led to him gaining the nickname Zoidberg.
I’m looking through the lens of nostalgia for the internet around 2000, but I often I wish we could return to this sort of world of lightweight and simple web design.
Now introducing a brand new, declarative framework built for interoperability and ease of use. Forget bundling, transpiring, packaging, dependency management – and don’t even think about worrying about CJS vs ESM vs AMD vs UMD vs SystemJS vs …, just include this one <script> and reference $ to your heart’s content.
We can, but it involves building your own websites, or volunteering for local organizations / charities / etc to build them, or pushing for simple website designs at your employer. The latter likely won't work due to branding and there being 10-100x as much budget available as strictly needed for an informational website.
I suppose the internet hasn't been very fast down there, and nobody has time to load dozens of scripts and tracking beacons when their science lab is on fire.
Yes. A fire is a natural threat that is in everyone's interest to address as quickly and forcefully as possible. Sexual harassment is an element of interpersonal politics, which necessarily involves painstakingly slow progress and a lighter touch to avoid going backwards. Of course as we get better and better at preventing natural threats, those too start to transition into the realm of politics. eg "Why do we have so many building codes when structure fires are so rare?"