Fire Rescue Victoria response times show failure to meet critical incidents on time

Victorian firefighters are failing to respond to critical incidents on time, as the state enters the summer fire season.

Victorian fire fighters are failing to respond to critical incidents on time, damning new figures have revealed as the state enters the summer fire season.

Fire Rescue Victoria response times published this week showed two-thirds of stations failed to respond to Code 1 incidents within the target time.

The busiest stations performed the worst with half of the top 30 stations missing the 90 per cent target.

Two third of stations were failing to respond to Code 1 incidents.

And 60 per cent of stations missed the target in the past two quarters.

It comes after Fire Services Implementation Monitor Niall Blair in July found Victoria’s fire services were failing to meet key performance indicators.

It included missing key targets across areas of community engagement, service delivery, community safety and workplace safety.

There were also issues with operational fleet availability.

Shadow Minister for Emergency Services, Brad Battin, slammed the government over the response times.

“Daniel Andrews loves to say that ‘seconds save lives’, but data shows the most expensive fire service in Australia has yet again failed to meet its own targets,” he said.

Mr Battin said a “disingenuous campaign led by UFU management” to grow its response area at the expense of CFA volunteers was hurting response times.

“The culture must change to ensure community safety is the priority, not increasing union membership,” he said.

FRV Commissioner Ken Block said the service was committed to continuous improvement.

“While some of the benchmarks were not met, overall, FRV continued to perform strongly, exceeding targets for structure fires in Q3, and Emergency Medical Response incidents in both Q3 and Q4,” he said.

The busiest stations were the worst performing.

“FRV’s primary goal is to enhance the services we deliver to the community as we continue on our journey and work with key stakeholders to identify, investigate and implement measures that will increase and strengthen our emergency response capabilities.

“FRV is working with the Fire Services Implementation Monitor to ensure we meet existing and future demand and keep Victorians and our firefighters safe.”

Mr Block said between January 1 and June 30 FRV firefighters responded to more than 27,000 incidents across Victoria.

He said station locations were regularly reviewed to ensure resources are placed where they were needed most.

A government spokesperson said response times had been impacted by additional Covid-19 precautions.

“We set high expectations and targets for our fire services to ensure we continue to deliver the best service to the community,” she said.

“We’ll keep investing in our fire services to keep our communities safe.”

Originally published as Fire Rescue Victoria response times show failure to meet critical incidents on time