Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Fire Rescue Victoria

Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:30): (1375) Last month we were all shocked by the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires. In response LA’s fire commissioner observed that years of underfunding had crippled the Los Angeles Fire Department’s ability to respond. At the heart of the crisis nearly half of LA’s fire trucks were out of commission awaiting repairs and calls for fleet replacement programs had fallen on deaf ears. Similarly, firefighters in Victoria have been warning that for years FRV is under-resourced and underfunded, yet this government continues to ignore those calls and the calls for critical funding. Despite 42 per cent of Fire Rescue Victoria’s fleet being beyond its 15-year service life, Deputy Premier Carroll insists our service is, and I quote, ‘world class’. This summer has proven otherwise.

On Boxing Day a fire truck from Bundoora broke down en route to the Halls Gap fire, with no spare trucks available statewide. The next day a CBD truck overheated while responding to a house fire. On 30 December multiple trucks broke down yet again at Halls Gap, leaving fire crews stranded on the freeway. On New Year’s Eve aerial appliances in Ringwood, Dandenong and Traralgon were all offline. A 17-year-old truck in Brooklyn was taken off commission on New Year’s Day, followed by another in West Melbourne on 2 January. By 12 January only two of five strategically placed ladder platforms were operational. As temperatures soared on Monday this week a 22-year-old truck in Oakleigh failed to start, unable to respond to a fire call and taken out of commission. On Tuesday night Oakleigh’s replacement truck broke down at a fire call. As of yesterday FRV had 29 trucks out of commission. There are no spare trucks across the state to replace breakdowns.

As demonstrated in the Los Angeles fires, this government’s failure to invest in a rolling stock and replacement program is putting lives at risk. It is also putting the lives of firefighters at risk. With the focus on Werribee this weekend, it is worth noting that by 2030 Wyndham will have a population similar to Canberra, yet there are no plans for additional FRV trucks and appliances to be stationed there. Canberra, by contrast, has a fire service with 34 trucks and 330 full-time staff. Fire Rescue Victoria is in crisis. It is in freefall. I ask the Treasurer, therefore, and the former Minister for Emergency Services to fund and resource the FRV fleet to meet Victoria’s needs now and well into the future, including the CFA.