Rural Fire Service volunteer firefighters say they won’t merge with Fire and Rescue NSW
VOLUNTEER firefighters have vowed to oppose any push to create a single fire service in NSW, as the emergency services minister savaged the union representing professional firefighters for “bastardry”.
NSW
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VOLUNTEER firefighters have vowed to oppose any push to create a single fire service in NSW, as the emergency services minister savaged the union representing professional firefighters for “bastardry”.
Recriminations over the fire that destroyed almost 100 properties in Tathra intensified yesterday, with 2GB host Alan Jones savaging emergency Services Minister Troy Grant on air for what he called the government’s “utterly inadequate” response.
The Fire Brigade Employees Union said an “ongoing turf war” between the professional Fire & Rescue NSW and the volunteer-based Rural Fire Service had contributed to the losses in Sunday’s blaze.
It said competition between the two services “is dysfunctional and dangerous”.
The Daily Telegraph revealed this week the RFS waited three hours to call for FRNSW help as the bushfire raced toward Tathra despite Fire & Rescue offering assistance more than once.
Mr Grant accused the union of pointing fingers based on “part-truths.”
“I am disgusted by this union bastardry that has occurred at a time when people are … suffering,” he told reporters.
TATHRA BUSHFIRE
►‘They’re in all tears, they have lost everything’
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►Sombre clean-up in full swing
Earlier yesterday, Mr Grant was taken to task by Jones after announcing ex-AFP boss Mick Keelty would head an inquiry into the issue, but refused to discuss the dispute.
“If it was your house and contents you had just lost, you wouldn’t want to hear Minister Grant talking rubbish about an inquiry would you?” Jones said.
The union is open to merging the two services, but RFS Association president Ken Middleton said: “The formation of a single agency would erode volunteer culture and commitment thereby jeopardising property protection throughout NSW.”