FRV unable to fight bushfires: Wants to ‘loan’ CFA heavy tankers
Victoria’s new career-only Fire Rescue Victoria service says it needs to borrow vital equipment from the CFA — because “it has no capacity to adequately respond to our bushfire risk” in a dozen regional locations. SEE THE MEMO
THE State Government’s rush to form Fire Rescue Victoria has left it without the tankers it needs to fight bushfires threatening 12 regional cities and to protect the Latrobe Valley from another devastating Hazelwood mine fire.
A memo drafted by FRV Deputy Commissioner Gavin Freeman’s office states, “Fire Rescue Victoria has no capacity to adequately respond to our bushfire risk within the FRV primary areas or adjoining CFA Districts in the regional locations”.
Having discovered the shortfall FRV is now wanting to “loan” 12 of the CFA’s elite 4WD heavy tankers on days when the fire danger index exceeds 35, anywhere from 40 to 60 days during summer and early autumn.
“It is recommended that FRV temporarily lease or loan ex-CFA/UFU approved heavy tankers for the FRV 12 locations — Wodonga, Wangaratta, Shepparton, Traralgon, Morwell, Latrobe West, Mildura, Bendigo, Ballarat City, Lucas, Warrnambool and Portland,” the memo states.
FRV also warns there are “several National critical infrastructure” assets at risk, including the Latrobe Valley’s open-cut coal mines, which its says are only accessible using the CFA’s 4WD heavy tankers.
But Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria chief executive Adam Barnett said FRV’s push to take control of the heavy tankers highlighted how the Government had destroyed the flexibility of volunteer and career staff working together under the old CFA integrated model.
Prior to July 1 volunteers and UFU career firefighters at CFA’s 36 integrated stations used whichever trucks was most appropriate for the job.
But under the Government’s carve-up FRV took ownership of all structural firefighting vehicles — telebooms and pumpers at integrated CFA stations, while volunteers took the tankers.
Only now has FRV realised the limitations of the fleet they inherited, given the pumpers and telebooms they now own carry very limited amounts of water, cannot be taken off-road and normally need access to hydrants for sustained firefighting.
While volunteers are still able to respond with their heavy tankers FRV’s memo states “their availability and response for this fire season is unknown”.
But FRV’s push to take control of the CFA’s 4WD heavy tankers comes at a huge cost, given its recently approved enterprise agreement with the United Firefighters Union demands that each station has a dedicated crew for each appliance, rather than one crew who can jump on the most appropriate appliance for the job.
The enterprise agreement, which was signed off by the Fair Work Commission on August 26, states: “there will be no cross crewing of any appliance unless otherwise agreed by the parties”.
It means FRV will have to pay career firefighters at least $2.4 million in overtime to cover the additional positions it needs to fill for a career tanker crew that would remain idle for much of the time.
In outlining the financial implications the FRV memo states: “this would equate to an estimated cost of $200,000 per station”. “No funding source has been allocated to this proposal and would be a cost pressure on District budgets.”
Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville office said there were “protocols in place to ensure interoperability between our fire agencies during periods of surge.
“One of the many advantages of the recent fire services reforms is the ability for resources to be seamlessly shared across the state and both agencies continue to use their combined resources to provide the best service to Victoria.
“The community should be in absolutely no doubt that they will be well protected this coming fire season.”
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