Thursday, 5 February 2026

 Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (12:43): My constituency question is for the Minister for Emergency Services. We are both proud and grateful for the amazing work of our local CFA volunteers, who bravely protected our communities from the horrific fires. But in the wake of the fires I have received information of several instances where CFA crews were ordered by their commanding officers to stand down from a particular fire, leaving residents to battle the flames alone. In one instance a family were battling fire on their property outside of Yarck when a CFA tanker arrived, drove into the property and immediately left, the crew ordered to return to the command centre, where they sat unused. The family saved their home but, sadly, not their herd. Similar experiences occurred in Koetong in the far north-east of my electorate and also in Mount Teneriffe, near Locksley. Will the minister inquire into these concerning decisions made by commanding officers that left CFA tankers and forest fire management trucks idle and my constituents alone to fight their own bushfires?