The union says such a ban would garage 15 per cent of available trucks as Fire Rescue Commissioner Gavin Freeman urges firefighters not to adopt the unprecedented action.
The union says such a ban would garage 15 per cent of available trucks as Fire Rescue Commissioner Gavin Freeman urges firefighters not to adopt the unprecedented action.
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- Victoria
- Victorian Parliament
By Chip Le Grand
January 29, 2025 — 4.45am
Melbourne and regional firefighters will vote on whether to take up to 30 trucks off the road in a dramatic escalation of their dispute with the Allan government and Fire Rescue Victoria over what they say is an ageing and dangerously unreliable fleet.
United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall said the proposed permanent work bans – to be put to a vote on Wednesday, in the middle of Victoria’s fire season – were unprecedented and, if adopted, would deplete the number of trucks available by 15 per cent.
“It is a state of emergency,” Marshall said on Tuesday. “This is not firefighters putting the community at risk, this is firefighters not having the equipment to do the job.”
The move comes after the union last year failed to secure agreement for an independent audit of Victoria’s estimated fleet of 200 trucks and servicing records through the Fair Work Commission. The union is separately locked in a protracted wage dispute with Fire Rescue Victoria and the government, currently before the Federal Court.
Fire Rescue Commissioner Gavin Freeman urged against the proposed ban.
He said there were established procedures in place for firefighters to report concerns about faulty equipment, and Fire Rescue Victoria would not return the road trucks taken out of service for repairs until they were safe and fully operational.
“When critical issues are reported, they are actioned swiftly,” he said. “We do not hesitate to take a fire truck out of service when required.
“It would be disappointing if industrial bodies put blanket bans on fire appliances.”
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The Bureau of Meteorology, meanwhile, is forecasting high temperatures in Victoria’s north and west at the weekend, with 40-degree days possible next week across much of the state.
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The proposed equipment ban, if enforced by metropolitan and regional firefighters, would create further political headaches for Premier Jacinta Allan and her new Minister for Emergency Services, Vicky Ward.
It comes just days after the state government welcomed an in-principle agreement reached between Victoria Police and the state’s Police Association on a new wage deal to end their 18-month pay dispute.
Marshall’s leadership of the United Firefighters Union, which he has served as Victorian branch secretary for 30 years, is also under scrutiny. Fire Service Implementation Monitor Niall Blair last year described the industrial environment surrounding the fire services as a “key impediment” to reform.
Fire Rescue Victoria, a service created in 2020 from a forced merger of Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Country Fire Authority crews in regional centres, privately warned the government three years ago that due to the age of its trucks, it did “not have the fleet they need to sufficiently protect personnel and communities”.
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Marshall said that warning – contained in a cabinet-in-confidence submission ahead of the 2022-23 budget – turned potentially deadly in April last year when the water pump on a truck which arrived at a house fire in Truganina in Melbourne’s west failed to operate.
This resulted in a firefighter rushing into the burning building to rescue trapped residents without any water for protection.
The firefighter responsible for operating the pump on the night of the fire described in a statement provided to this masthead a chaotic scene as the truck stalled each time he tried to engage the water pump.
“I thought that a lady that I could hear was inside the building,” he said.
“I could hear the roof collapsing. I had neighbours with about seven kids at my door asking why I wasn’t helping. My crew was wondering what was going on.
“I had one job – pump operator. And I couldn’t do it because of the truck failure.”
The firefighter, speaking confidentially to avoid workplace recriminations, said the truck had passed safety checks at the start of his shift but had a history of previous failures.
Marshall said that at a fatal house fire in Truganina this month, a truck was dispatched from across town in Richmond because those nearer in Sunshine and Footscray were not in service. Other equipment failures this summer include a truck catching fire in Port Melbourne and a faulty boom trapping three firefighters next to the West Gate Freeway.
If union members adopt the work bans, the truck will be one of those permanently garaged.
The union calculates that 42 per cent of the Fire Rescue Victoria fleet is past its 15-year replacement date and that figure will climb to 64 per cent by the end of the year.
Freeman said Fire Rescue Victoria planned to replace all its trucks after 15 years, but they were built to safely remain on the road for longer if required.
He said this year’s state budget contained $15.4 million for five new pumper platform trucks, and Fire Rescue Victoria last year took delivery of seven new appliances and its first electric truck. A further 20 trucks were on order.
A state government spokesperson said: “Our dedicated fire services continue to deliver the best service to the community, so that Victorians, no matter where they live, are safe.”
Marshall said while older trucks could still be driven to fires, they carried greater risk of breaking down.
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.
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