Pole Dancing Back In Vogue...

[csv8]

SWINGING down a shiny silver pole is back in vogue at Queensland fire stations.

While they were once considered dangerous and almost phased out 20 years ago, the poles are making a comeback. It comes on the advice of health and safety experts who believe firefighters are safer sliding down the pole than running down stairs.
The new $15.1 million Roma Street Fire and Ambulance Station, in central Brisbane, was officially opened yesterday and came with its own pole.

The station became the third in Queensland to be retrofitted with a pole after Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, and Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast.

Firefighters posted to the station will have plenty of use for their new pole.

Roma Street is one of the busiest stations, with firefighters responding to 2900 emergencies last year and paramedics to 8644.

Premier Peter Beattie said the figures demonstrated the need for the new station.

"This new building is. . . configured and equipped to provide the most efficient and effective fire and ambulance services to the people of Brisbane over the coming decades," Mr Beattie said.