Geelong Advertiser 29th May 2026
Geelong firefighter has sustained burns at a suspicious Norlane house fire after Corio’s depleted fleet left him without backup during a critical flashover.
A firefighter who sustained burns while battling a suspicious blaze that engulfed a Norlane home was let down by Geelong’s ailing firetruck fleet as only one tanker was initially able to respond to the major fire, according to one firefighting source.
Residents on Thrush St watched in horror as smoke billowed from the house about 11.45am on Thursday, just days after an Alfa Romeo parked outside the home was gutted by flames.
After the inferno was brought under control, a male firefighter was seen being treated by paramedics before he was transported to Geelong Hospital.
A firefighting source told the Addy the officer, who sustained burns across his shoulders, was left without the appropriate backup to contain the blaze leading to his injuries.
“One of the really important aspects of this call was they didn’t have the second truck that’s normally at Corio because of lack of resources,” the source said.
“They had to wait for the second truck to get to the fire from Belmont, which took about 20 minutes.
“Basically he didn’t have any mates to back him up.
“As a result of FRV having limited resources, this firefighter was injured.”
The officer was caught in the flashover, a stage in a fire where combustible materials in an enclosed space simultaneously ignite.
“Firefighting is a race against a 7.7 to eight-minute window once a fire starts – beyond this flashover occurs,” the source said.
The Belmont fire engine was equipped with a Rapid Intervention Team, a specialised crew tasked with rescuing injured or trapped firefighters.
When the Norlane blaze was reported, Corio only had one working truck to respond. Other tankers from Lara and Belmont needed to be redirected to the incident.
The firefighter has since been discharged from hospital.
A second firefighter was also injured following the flareover, but did not require hospital treatment.
Thursday’s incident drew the ire of United Firefighters Union branch secretary Peter Marshall, who branded Geelong’s fleet situation as a “disaster”.
“We have a situation where Corio Fire Station should have two working fire trucks – they only have one right now,” he said.
“A house fire four kilometres from Corio Fire Station should have had two Corio trucks automatically dispatched to this fire – not one.
“We know that FRV and the Government will try to spin this any which way but it’s time they take their heads out from their bottomless sandpits and come clean.
“If they don’t acknowledge FRV’s fleet disaster, and agree to a rolling replacement of FRV fleet, someone – whether it be a firefighter or a member of the community – will die.”
An FRV spokesman said the response to the Norlane fire was part of their “normal escalation processes”.
“As part of our normal escalation processes when Fire Rescue Victoria attends multiple incidents at one time, additional trucks for the Norlane fire were deployed from Lara and Belmont fire stations,” he said.
Geelong firetruck fleet currently has four essential units that have been taken off the road, including the main pumper in Lara, Corio’s second pumper, an Ocean Grove pumper and Lara’s hazmat truck, which was essential in containing the Corio refinery blaze.
Lara’s main pumper has been temporarily replaced by a unit from Point Cook, while Geelong city’s second pumper is filling in for Ocean Grove’s broken truck.
Last week, Lara FRV station fire station 61 reported having no working trucks to respond to incidents.
Police confirmed the Norlane house fire is being treated as suspicious, although a cause has yet to be determined.
Inquiries were made with WorkSafe but there will be no further investigation.
