Firefighters warn of power shortages sparked by coal station fires

Firefighters have warned that Victoria’s power supply could be at risk and extra pressure placed on the national grid as crucial equipment deployed to respond to mine and power station fires in the Latrobe Valley undergoes repairs.

It comes as firefighters battle multiple bushfires across several states, and authorities warn people to brace for extreme bushfire conditions across most of Victoria and South Australia on Boxing Day.

The inferno at Hazelwood in February 2014.Credit: Keith Pakenham

Since the Hazelwood coal mine fire in 2014, which burned for four weeks and contributed to the deaths of 11 people, authorities have stationed an aerial pumper at Morwell, which can safely direct water into coal mine fires.

Its primary purpose is to provide rapid response to fires at Yallourn, Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B power plants, their coal, and the transmission infrastructure connecting them to the grid, as well as the interconnector to Tasmania that terminates in the region.

Since December 6, however, it has been offline after an internal seal ruptured. United Firefighters Union delegate Matt Lawrence said firefighters would be placed in unsafe conditions responding to coal fires without the aerial pumper.

Loy Yang A has a brown coal mine – the largest in the country – as well as a power station on site. It supplies about 30 per cent of Victoria’s energy requirements, while Loy Yang B’s power station supplies about 20 per cent.

Traralgon fire station officer, operational firefighter and UFU delegate Matt Lawrence.Credit: Courtesy of Matt Lawrence

Yallourn power station provides 22 per cent of Victoria’s energy needs and provides about 8 per cent of Australia’s national electricity market.

Firefighters responded to four callouts during last Monday’s sweltering temperatures at Yallourn power station and Loy Yang.

Lawrence, who is also the fire station officer at Traralgon and an operational firefighter, said it was taking “far too long” to get access to safe and working vehicles.

“Firefighters would like to see our vehicles safer to use and reliable so we can protect the community because at the moment, with unreliable vehicles, it can make it hard for us to do that, and we’re seeing that across the state,” he said.

The aerial pumper in action in Gippsland. It has an extendable arm that can reach up walls of coal, reducing the risks to firefighters.Credit: Matt Lawrence

“Obviously, [the Latrobe Valley] is a high-risk environment, in the sense of supplying a large amount of power to the state. It’s high-consequence, too, certainly, if there was a large fire, in terms of what it means for the state.”

A spokesman for AGL, which runs the Loy Yang A power station and brown coal mine said it would not be appropriate to comment on the firefighting capabilities of Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and the Country Fire Authority.

An FRV spokesman said the Latrobe Valley and surrounding communities were well protected by FRV and CFA crews.

“The safety of our firefighters, other first responders, and the community is paramount,” he said. “FRV has allocated another aerial pumper over the Christmas period to replace the appliance undergoing maintenance. A heavy pumper appliance has acted as a replacement in the interim, as is standard practice.”

Firefighters in Gippsland have warned Victoria’s power supply could be at risk in heatwave conditions and high winds this week.

Lawrence said his team was yet to see a replacement aerial pumper, and the heavy pumper was not “like for like” equipment.

“We’ll continue to respond to fires and continue to protect the community, but it just puts us in a position where we have to take vehicles in there that aren’t necessarily appropriate to a task and puts us in a position where ... we may have to work in an unsafe environment.”

After the Hazelwood mine disaster, Emergency Management Victoria facilitated the establishment of a Coal Mines Emergency Management Taskforce designed to reduce the risks of major fires in the future.

Its final report in 2016 said that, as part of the capability to respond to and manage fires in coal mines in the Latrobe Valley, an aerial pumper would be permanently deployed to Morwell Fire Station.

Aerial pumpers allow firefighters to respond to coal fires at a safer distance, and their extendable arms can more safely reach up walls of coal.

United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said the age and condition of Fire Rescue Victoria’s fleet meant faults were taking more trucks offline for longer periods of time, stretching the fleet thinner across the state.

“Specialist firefighting equipment designated to respond to incidents in critical infrastructure should not be offline without a suitable replacement … let alone during heatwave conditions and a total fire ban,” he said.

“It means it is more difficult and dangerous for firefighters to respond to fires in the mines,
power stations and transmission infrastructure that keeps the state’s air-conditioners running
during present conditions.”

The FRV spokesman said the organisation had more than 200 firefighting vehicles and 28 new vehicles in the pipeline, including rehabilitation units, heavy rescue vehicles and heavy pumpers.

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