ABC News
Werribee yesterday, which claimed the life of a child.
Three-year-old Jordan Dashwood died after a fire started at the boy’s family home in Newbury Street just after midnight.
His father, Jeremy Dashwood, was taken to hospital with serious burns, and another child escaped by jumping out of a window.
The first fire crews on scene, from the Country Fire Authority (CFA), arrived more than nine minutes after the fire was reported, and Fire Rescue Victoria crews arrived several minutes later.
Fire Rescue Victoria has a target response time of 7.7 minutes.
The United Firefighters Union said the nearest fire station to the house has only one fire truck, which had already been deployed to another incident.
Union secretary Peter Marshall said firefighters had been calling for a second vehicle at the station for ten years.
He said crews would have responded to the incident well within the target response time had they been better resourced.
“The reality is that that particular house fire is very close to the fire station.
“We’ve actually seen another fire truck having to come from, I think it was Point Cook, which arrived in about ten minutes. That’s just too late.”
Leading Firefighter at the Tarneit station, Josh Mitchell, said he and other firefighters at the station were devastated at the outcome of the fire.
“We should have been first in the door at that house fire; unfortunately our truck was at Lara fire station covering Lara as a result of Lara having a mechanical issue with their truck,” he said.
“We were meant to be here, and we weren’t.
“It’s heartbreaking because there is a lot of ‘what ifs?” I don’t know if us getting there six, seven minutes quicker could have made a difference, but you do ask yourself that question.”
Mr Mitchell said the resourcing at the fire station is not adequate to service an area with a fast-growing population.
“You only have to drive north of here to see the amount of new houses here; we’ve got data centres, factories. One truck’s not adequate,” he said.
“The station is built for four [trucks] and should have at least two.”
Victorian Ambulance Services Minister Harriet Shing said there was likely to be an investigation into the Werribee fire but added resourcing was a matter for Fire Rescue Victoria.
“What happened in Werribee is utterly devastating,” she said. “I can only imagine the pain and the distress that this family is feeling about the loss of their beautiful son and their two dogs, and the injuries sustained by dad as he was attempting to provide assistance on the scene.
“The allocation of resources to fire stations and the allocation of vehicles, for example, is a matter for Fire Rescue Victoria. There will no doubt be an investigation into what has occurred in Werribee, and that will consider a range of different matters.
“But at this stage, it’s my understanding that there is a process that will be undertaken to understand what happened and where there may have been areas for improvement.”
A list of incidents issued by Fire Rescue Victoria on Monday morning claimed: “crews arrived on scene within three minutes”.
On Monday evening, however, the fire service acknowledged it had taken longer, with a spokesperson confirming “while FRV crews arrived promptly, this was not within the 3 minutes initially noted”.
The spokesperson said the original list of incidents, which listed the three-minute arrival time, had since been recalled.
“In line with Victoria’s complementary fire services model, the closest available resource responded, which meant CFA crews were first on scene,” the FRV spokesperson said.
“FRV resources arrived on scene as soon as they became available.
“Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the child who tragically died.”
