Fiskville CFA training ground to be closed permanently

UPDATE: THE notorious Fiskville CFA training ground will be closed forever after new toxicology tests revealed high levels of contamination on site.

03/09/2000. A fierce tanker blaze threatens to engulf a car during CFA training at Fiskville.

THE notorious Fiskville CFA training ground will be closed forever after new toxicology tests revealed high levels of contamination at new sites.

The CFA board recommended the closure after reports found the chemical PFOS in a Hanger area that was previously clean.

More than 550 water tests were taken with 65 returning positive results “well in excess” of safe levels.

Results of 50 micrograms per litre were found and it is not known how the contamination spread from the former contaminated sites.

Staff are believed to not be at risk after drinking and shower water were proved to be uncontaminated.

However Emergency Minister Jane Garrett said the tests prompted the immediate closure of the centre.

“We have very high levels of PFOS and PFOS in areas that were previously thought to be clean,” she said.

“While we are relieved that drinking water is safe, the ongoing discovery if contamination at Fiskville means it can no longer operate.

“Our immediate concern is for the people of Fiskville, and are working closely with the CFA and affected staff to assist them through this difficult change.”

Up to half of the staff will have ongoing jobs with the CFA but many will be helped to find other jobs.

Ms Garett said health concerns could not be ruled out for fire fighters using the facility recently but said it was unlikely and urged calm among staff and the Ballan community.

Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said recruits and volunteers would be trained at Craigieburn which would become the new state facility.

Earlier this year a report linked 16 deaths to the infamous training ground caused by chemicals dumped and buried after hot fire training.

The facility was reopened following the contamination scare first surfacing in 2011.

The CFA was rocked again in March when 60 staff were evacuated and the centre was shut down when a second toxic source was located.

Authorities tested the water supply in the area after residue from a banned firefighting foam may have infiltrated the CFA site’s drinking water.

At the time United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said the water contamination should have been detected earlier as concerns the area was still contaminated had been raised as early as 2012.

The drinking water and shower heads were found to be clean however highly toxic readings have been found elsewhere in the ground.

The scare saw WorkSafe’s chief executive Denise Cosgrove and Chairperson David Krasnostein resign for failing to ensure the safety of staff at the CFA training base at Fiskville.

Up to 16 deaths have been linked to contamination at Fiskville after concerns about the fire ground first surfaced in 2011.

An independent study launched by Monash University revealed last month among 606 firefighters who trained on the fire ground, 69 had been diagnosed with cancer which for some was fatal.

Some of those affected were considered among the fittest people in the state but showed higher rates of skin, testicular and brain cancer.

People involved in the study had worked or visited the site between 1971 and 1999.

Flammable chemicals, foams and retardants were found to be accountable for the victims’ diagnoses.

According to the study part time instructors in the medium risk group showed high than expected rates of brain cancer.

Fiskville had been a dumping ground for tanker loads of highly toxic chemicals used in training burns as a cheap alternative to fuel. It was burnt and stored in drums, many of which were buried on the grounds.

In June 2012, it was revealed the contamination legacy continued and training water was giving firefighters rashes and gastro intestinal illnesses.

The MFB stopped sending its fireys to Fiskville for training.

Dams which fed hot fire training hoses contained the toxic sludge that had never been cleaned up despite decades of warnings to CFA management.

EDITORIAL: FISKVILLE’S DEADLY LEGACY

WALKLEYS FOR CANCER TOWN REPORTERS

CFA IN CANCER TIMEBOMB CLAIM AT FISKVILLE

CFA’S DIRTY SECRET AT FISKVILLE

UP TO 13 DEAD IN CFA CONTAMINATION SCARE IN FISKVILLE

CANCER SCANDAL LESSONS IGNORED

SHUT FISKVILLE SITE INDEFINITELY, SAY FIREFIGHTERS