You may have seen the campaign launched yesterday by the United Firefighters Union (UFU) outlining the skills and attributes of career firefighters and inviting the community to check if they are in a Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) zone.
The implication of this campaign is that CFA-serviced areas do not have access to skilled and professional firefighters. As you all know, this is not true.
For generations, the bravery, skill and dedication of both volunteer and career firefighters and support staff has kept Victorians safe and saved lives. Victoria has a proud track record of fire services working together with other agencies to respond to emergencies.
CFA is the largest urban and rural fire brigade network across Victoria, with almost 30,000 operational firefighters and more than 20,000 support volunteers. Our volunteers are supported ably by our staff in many important roles, delivering world class fire, rescue, and community preparedness services to more than four million Victorians.
Our 1,217 brigades have been professionally protecting their communities for decades. Our firefighters are equally trained to the latest national standards and are equipped to meet any emergency.
We respond to a range of hazards and deliver a wide variety of community support such as bushfire, house fires, grassfires, road crash rescue, technical rescues (high angle, trench, mine operations), hazardous materials, planned burning, community education and smoke alarm installation; just to name a few.
We continued to deliver community engagement throughout the pandemic, ensuring Victorians are prepared for fire all year round. And when fire threatens our state, thousands of our volunteers turn out to protect their communities and other communities.
Recommendations about fire service delivery zones will be made by the Fire Services Review Panel. This independent panel was established by the Victorian Government as part of fire services reform to review fire district boundaries at least once every four years.
The Panel will provide advice to the Minister for Emergency Services as to whether a change in fire risk makes it necessary to change the fire service delivery boundaries. The Minister will make the final determination on any changes to the FRV fire district.
Factors that will be taken into account include population, service demand, brigade capabilities and land use.
Read about the Panel’s proposed approach to boundary reviews here. It is important to remember that the Panel, as part of the boundary review process, is required to consult with all relevant stakeholders, including fire agencies, the CFA Chief Officer and local authorities.
From the first year that CFA became a volunteer-based, fire and emergency service, and despite the COVID pandemic, CFA brigades and members:
• Responded to 30,843 Incidents
• Conducted 3,524 Property Advice Visits
• Organised 959 Public Awareness sessions
• Facilitated 134 Home fire safety sessions
• Participated in 3,663 Training Courses
We are proud of each and every CFA member, including our secondees, and we thank our members for the incredibly professional work they do in responding to their communities in their times of need, and for their continued dedication and commitment to keeping Victorians safe.
| Submitted by |
CEO Natalie MacDonald and Chief Officer Jason Heffernan |