‘A last resort’: Fireys vote to take dozens of failing trucks off the road

Melbourne and regional firefighters have voted to take up to 30 trucks off the road in a dramatic escalation of their dispute with the Allan government and Fire Rescue Victoria over what they say is an ageing and dangerously unreliable fleet.

United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall said the unprecedented permanent work bans – which members backed unanimously on Wednesday, in the middle of Victoria’s fire season – would deplete the number of trucks available by 15 per cent.

The firefighters’ union estimates that 42 per cent of the Fire Rescue Victoria fleet is past its 15-year replacement date.Credit: Paul Rovere

“It is a state of emergency,” Marshall said on Tuesday. “This is not firefighters putting the community at risk; this is firefighters not having the equipment to do the job.“

“As of tomorrow, firefighters who have a reasonable concern that their use of a particular fire truck poses an imminent risk to their health or safety will exercise their legal rights and will not use that fire truck.“

The union last year failed to secure agreement for an independent audit of Victoria’s estimated fleet of 200 trucks and servicing records through the Fair Work Commission. It is separately locked in a protracted wage dispute with FRV and the government, currently before the Federal Court.

It also calculates that 42 per cent of the Fire Rescue Victoria fleet is past its 15-year replacement date and that figure will climb to 64 per cent by the end of the year.

After the ballot on Wednesday, Marshall said the vote was “a last resort” after the rejection of the safety audit.

But he welcomed Deputy Premier Ben Carroll’s comments that the state government was willing to invest further in firefighting, including in equipment.

“[He] said today that if there was more the government can do, it will do it, so we look forward to meeting with him to ensure that happens because it’s one thing to make comments in the media, but firefighters need action – and now,” Marshall said.

“This is an issue that has dragged on for far too long, and the consequences of further government inaction are potentially lethal.”

The union meeting was told more than 530 faults had been recorded across FRV’s fleet in the past 18 months.

After the vote, a state government spokesperson said it had put more than $100 million into ensuring firefighters had the trucks, resources and equipment they needed to keep themselves and Victorians safe.

“As part of this year’s budget we delivered more than $15.4 million for five new [FRV] pumper platforms – this is in addition to more than 20 trucks and support vehicles already on their way to [FRV],” the spokesperson said.

The vote comes as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts high temperatures in Victoria’s north and west at the weekend and 40-degree days next week across parts of the state.

Ahead of the vote, Fire Rescue Commissioner Gavin Freeman urged the union to not back the work ban.

He said there were established procedures to report concerns about faulty equipment and FRV would not return trucks to the road until they were safe and fully operational.

“When critical issues are reported, they are actioned swiftly,” he said. “We do not hesitate to take a fire truck out of service when required. “It would be disappointing if industrial bodies put blanket bans on fire appliances.”

On Wednesday, Freeman said he wanted to assure Victorians that the investment was being made to upgrade the firefighting fleet, and 28 new vehicles were in the pipeline.

He said that while FRV’s planning was based on a target fleet replacement age of 15 years, fire trucks “do not expire simply because they reach a certain age”.

“These appliances are specially built and can remain in service for long periods, depending on their usage and workload,” he said.

The equipment ban will create further political headaches for Premier Jacinta Allan and her new Minister for Emergency Services, Vicki Ward.

It comes just days after the government welcomed an in-principle agreement reached between Victoria Police and the state’s Police Association on a new wage deal to end their 18-month pay dispute.

Marshall’s leadership of the United Firefighters Union, which he has served as Victorian branch secretary for 30 years, is also under scrutiny. Fire Service Implementation Monitor Niall Blair last year described the industrial environment surrounding the fire services as a “key impediment” to reform.

FRV, a service created in 2020 from a forced merger of Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Country Fire Authority crews in regional centres, privately warned the government three years ago that due to the age of its trucks, it did “not have the fleet they need to sufficiently protect personnel and communities”.

Marshall said that warning – contained in a cabinet-in-confidence submission ahead of the 2022-23 budget – turned potentially deadly in April last year when the water pump on a truck that arrived at a house fire in Truganina in Melbourne’s west failed to operate.

This resulted in a firefighter rushing into the burning building to rescue trapped residents without any water for protection.

The incident was not fatal – but the firefighter responsible for operating the pump on the night of the fire described a chaotic scene as the truck stalled each time he tried to engage the water pump.

“I thought that a lady that I could hear was inside the building,” he said in a statement to The Age.

“I could hear the roof collapsing. I had neighbours with about seven kids at my door asking why I wasn’t helping. My crew was wondering what was going on.

“I had one job – pump operator. And I couldn’t do it because of the truck failure.”

The firefighter, speaking confidentially to avoid workplace recriminations, said the truck had passed safety checks at the start of his shift but had a history of previous failures.

Marshall said that at a fatal house fire in Truganina this month, a truck was dispatched from across town in Richmond because those nearer in Sunshine and Footscray were not in service.

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