Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Country Fire Authority Rye brigade

Sam GROTH (Nepean) (19:10): (835) My adjournment is to the Minister for Emergency Services, and the action I seek is for the minister to secure funding for the renovation of Rye CFA, which requires immediate and urgent attention. For those that represent electorates that most would consider regional, the Country Fire Authority is one of the most important organisations in our local community. The southern Mornington Peninsula is an area predisposed to fire danger, and with a limited road network in and out we need to make sure we are well equipped with our fire services. If we are not, it can be a matter of life and death. Rye brigade has recently written to the CFA raising significant OH&S concerns of its members for immediate attention to address diesel particulates and soot particles entering their station from aged trucks. When I met with members of the Rye CFA, including captain Eddy Matt, they expressed their growing concern that as a busy class 4 urban brigade attending close to 300 fire calls a year they are still operating with increasingly obsolete equipment, including their trucks and a station that requires updated safety measures. The CFA had extraction fans installed in the motor room when they highlighted the amount of diesel fumes that were being detected on truck start up, however, they have no cross ventilation in the main motor room front door.

The Rye brigade has asked the authority to renovate their existing station to separate members’ amenities and keep the trucks separate to the CFA members’ uniforms and personal equipment. Currently the equipment is kept on hooks in the motor room and is exposed to fumes and toxic particles. Rye brigade members have concerns that the number of events the brigade attends and the number of engine start-ups could be having detrimental health effects. In fact I have had members tell me there is a brigade in the district which is experiencing a cancer cluster. There is no direct attribution to the diesel particles in that case, but it has caused concern for CFA members in the broader region.

The situation is clear: the state of the Rye station is unacceptable. It requires immediate attention. The brigade does an incredible service for the entire community. As I said, they attend around 300 events a year, but the constant starting up of old trucks in the motor room shows evidence of soot and charcoal visible on members’ gear. CFA members, who have been routinely attacked and let down by this Labor government, deserve safe and updated facilities, and I want to make sure that we are committed to ensuring that these local heroes have the equipment, the facilities but also the peace of mind that they need to continue with the great work that they do for their local community.