Thursday, 28 August 2025

Fire Rescue Victoria

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (23:33): (1903) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Emergency Services, concerning Fire Rescue Victoria’s truck crisis. Their firefighting capacity has been compromised due to the poor condition of the fleet, and many ageing trucks have been pushed way past their service date. It is very disappointing, to say the least, as I raised this matter with the minister back in March 2024, requesting a review of the metropolitan fleet. At the time 58 per cent of the 73 frontline vehicles had exceeded their service date. Now, 17 months later, during my recent visit last week to fire station 55 at Caroline Springs, the first thing I saw on the station’s whiteboard was ‘truck failure, out of action’. The station had to borrow another truck from Keilor fire station. So the action I seek is for the minister to acknowledge the concerns of our firefighters and immediately replace all outdated fire trucks. Approximately 200 fire trucks in FRV’s possession – more than 40 per cent of the trucks – have passed their use-by date, and in the metropolitan area the figure exceeds 50 per cent. The Allan Labor government must act now, because in two years time an additional 22 per cent of the FRV fleet will be out of date, bringing the total number of obsolete trucks to 64 per cent. The government is playing with the lives of our firefighters and Victorians by failing to replace old, outdated, unreliable fire trucks and pump trucks.

The factory fire which erupted in Melbourne’s west in my electorate last August had massive toxic plumes of chemicals, roaring flames and thick smoke, which were halting traffic. And what did the frontline firefighters have to confront while battling the hazardous fires? They were faced with a truck which had been in service over two decades and which failed to produce foam on two separate occasions during that emergency response. You do not hear that in the news. These hazards and risks are preventable. In this situation disaster could strike at any time during the failure of these fire truck pumpers, which could lead to serious injuries or loss of lives. These types of mishaps cannot be classified as accidents when potential risks are pre-warned. Someone must be held accountable for the lack of action. Our firefighters – the United Firefighters Union Victoria and others – have raised this concern. How do we expect our firefighters to perform their duties and keep our communities safe under these conditions? I urge the minister to meet with the firefighters in my electorate and come prepared to discuss upgrading the ageing fleet, which is no longer fit for purpose.