[Greens-Media] Dereliction of duty to Victorian fire services - Greens

[Colleen.Hartland at parliament.vic.gov.au]

The Greens condemn the Napthine Government over its dereliction of duty to 
fire services and community after the United Firefighters Union released a 
shocking list of equipment and staff shortfalls during recent fires.
¡§This is a damming account of the impacts of budget cuts to the MFB and 
CFA and failure to invest in desperately needed firefighters,¡¨ said Greens 
emergency services spokesperson Colleen Hartland.
¡§This is a dereliction of duty by the Napthine Government to our 
firefighters and community.¡¨
¡§We know fires are increasingly threatening our urban fringe, requiring 
more staff and fire trucks to deal with the increased threat. I condemn 
the $65 million budget cuts by the Napthine Government and call on them to 
restore the funding immediately.¡¨
¡§To their shame, the Napthine Government is putting lives and homes at 
risk.¡¨
¡§The Greens call on the government to address the concerns raised by the 
Firefighters Union and restore funding to the MBF and CFA,¡¨ said Ms 
Hartland.
For comment: Colleen Hartland 0417 445 845

Below is an extract from a letter from the UFU to Premier Napthine 
outlining 'fatal shortfalls identified' in the recent fire response.
On Sunday 9 February 2014 ¡V the anniversary of the 2009 fatal bushfires - 
the following list was the direct outcome of this Government¡¦s failure to 
keep to a programme to employ an additional 342 firefighters, increase 
staffed stations and appliances: 
„h There were not enough firefighters to fill strike teams, staff all 
appliances, or keep fire stations open in Melbourne suburbs like Melton, 
Craigieburn and Hoppers Crossing. 
„h Stations that closed include Hoppers Crossing, Melton, Greenvale and 
Craigieburn ¡V these communities had limited emergency response from 
volunteers or more distant CFA stations. 
„h At Hoppers Crossing, volunteers moved into the fire station overnight 
but initially had no fire appliances to respond. A rural brigade later 
supplied a pumper tanker. 
„h As senior CFA staff were moved up to work in Incident Control Centres, 
the CFA struggled to find staff to replace them in their fire stations. 
„h Many professional firefighters worked 18-hour shifts, in some cases 25 
hours straight, as they were recalled from days off to return to duty. 
Some firefighters worked triple shifts. 
„h At Traralgon, firefighters could not get the resources they needed for 
a fire that began on Friday. It spread into APM¡¦s Maryvale and Hazelwood 
open cut, 
„h Annual leave was postponed for those scheduled by the state-controlled 
roster to begin leave on Friday ¡V this will create staffing issues when 
they are due to return to work but will still be on leave. More 
firefighters will need to be recalled on overtime. 
„h Fatigue put them at further risk ¡V some were incapable of driving home, 
and were cared for by friends who drove them and provided a bed. 
„h Melton had no appliance from 11am to 6pm. 
„h Rosebud's only night shift truck was a volunteer appliance which the 
on-duty crew had not been trained to use. 
„h Ballarat city had crews working for up to 24 hours straight with some 
only having 6 hours between shifts. 
„h Eltham had no truck from about 12-1pm until 2.30 in afternoon. They 
usually have a pumper and a pumper tanker. Volunteers came with 1 pumper 
tanker and stayed until 6 pm when pumper came back. 
„h Craigieburn had no truck from 12.30 for at least 7 hours. All 
volunteers were also out. The station could not respond for 7 hours. CFA 
failed or was unable to organise move up. They could not respond when 
called to a house fire in Epping around 5.30 pm. 
„h Traralgon fire station had no trucks for more than two hours, possible 
four hours or more. Firefighters did shifts in excess of 20 hours. A fire 
that began on Thursday eventually caused damage to infrastructure and 
resources at the APM Maryvale plant, and got into the open cut coal mine 
at Hazelwood where it burned for days. Power production was limited to the 
fire. Resources to fight the blaze ¡V which threatens power supplies to the 
eastern seaboard of Australia ¡V were limited. Firefighters were desperate 
for more trucks, more firefighters and aerial support. The situation would 
have worse but MFB crews moved up to the LaTrobe Valley to support CFA 
crews. The CFA needs more professional firefighters to protect critical 
industry and power in the LaTrobe Valley. 
„h Caroline Springs without coverage from 12.20-3.30 pm. 
„h Frankston was down to one appliance. 
„h Sunbury had a single appliance - an SES appliance with no water, manned 
by volunteers - for about an hour. 
„h Mildura had crews going for 18 hours straight. 
„h The shortage of CFA firefighters meant MFB firefighters were moved up ¡V 
not to cover CFA fire stations as sometimes occurs, but directly to the 
firegrounds. 
„h At times the MFB had only 5 trucks available for the whole of the MFB¡¦s 
metropolitan area. 
„h The Firecom communications system broke down around noon and 
dispatchers were forced to phone fire crews to ascertain where they were. 
(This could have been monitored automatically had the State Government not 
scrapped the MFB¡¦s Next Generation communications system.) 
„h At the fireground, radio traffic was so heavy on fireground channels 
that communications broke down. 
„h MFB fire crews also report being directed back and forward between 
Gisborne and Mickleham as Incident Control Centres sent conflicting 
messages to trucks, and both the Kangaroo Ground and Gisborne ICCs claimed 
¡¥ownership¡¦ of MFB fire crews. 

The CFA¡¦s firefighter shortage has this direct effect on the MFB¡¦s cover 
on Sunday 9 February: 
„h Fire Station 2, West Melbourne ¡V no appliance 1.12 pm-8.04 pm 
„h FS 5, Broadmeadows - no appliance 12.37-2.26 pm, and 3.19-5.15 pm 
„h FS 18, Hawthorn - no appliance 12.01-7.30 pm 
„h FS 10, Richmond - no appliance midday-1.35 pm 
„h FS 11, Epping - no appliance from 11 am-1 pm 
„h FS 13, Northcote - no appliance 11.48 am-5.35 pm 
„h FS 14, Bundoora - no appliance 12.04-3.21 pm 
„h FS 29, Clayton - no appliance 11am-1.30 pm, and 2.30-4.33 pm 
„h FS 30, Templestowe ¡V no appliance 12.15-5.45 pm 
„h FS 32, Caulfield South ¡V no appliance 2.30-after 8 pm 
„h FS 34, Highett ¡V no appliance 1.58 pm-4.15 pm 
„h FS 43, Deer Park ¡V no appliance 12.30-4.20 pm 
„h FS 46, Altona ¡V no appliance 2.10-3.37 pm 
„h FS 49, North Laverton - no appliance 12.47-2.59 pm 
„h FS 50, Moonee Ponds ¡V no appliance 12.35 pm-10.03 pm 
„h FS 52, West Meadows ¡V no appliance 11.46 am-7.24 pm 
„h Strike team 2502 didn¡¦t book off until 11.40 pm - after a 16 hour 
shift. 
„h FS 3, Carlton ¡V operated with only 2 people and a rescue appliance 1 -4 
pm (no primary appliance) 
„h FS 47, Footscray ¡V operated with only 2 secondary appliances (neither 
has EMR nor carry water) from 12.59-7.18 pm 

The effects of the lack of firefighters continued through to Monday 10 
February 2014: 
„h CFA crews remained under great pressure. Senior staff were unable to 
find firefighters to fill taskforces or cover fire stations. 
„h Appliances stood idle at the Gisborne staging ground without crews to 
operate them. 

The above is only a snapshot of what has occurred. 



Colleen Hartland MP
Western Metropolitan Region
colleen.hartland at parliament.vic.gov.au
03 9689 6373
vicmps.greens.org.au/colleenhartland
facebook.com/colleenhartland



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Parliament of Victoria                                                                                                                    . 
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