The Allan Labor Government is accountable for the lack of proper investment in the fire service, the dire state of CFA and FRV Fire Trucks and the lack of resources and preparedness for the current fire season.
It is early in the fire season, yet the devastation caused so far has been catastrophic. It is only expected to get worse.
The fire devastation so far, who is accountable? As at 6:00AM, Tuesday 13 January 2026, there have been:
FS55 Caroline Springs
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: out of commission due to seatbelt issues making the truck unroadworthy.
The Upholstery on the Offside Rear Seat is ripped and coming apart exposing the internal foam cushioning (see attached pictures).
The Near Side Rear Step is intermittently not retracting back into place after the door is closed.
FS35 Windsor
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: At 1209hrs that truck was broken down and would not start and had a burning smell at the Service station on the corner of Boundary & Fitzgerald Rd Derrimut. No spares available. Crew followed appliance to Thornbury workshops and waited for a new starter motor to be fitted.
FS68 Delacombe
Appliance: Various
Issues: There is no capability for any FRV stations in the Ballarat area to safely respond to grass and scrub/bushfires. There are currently 3 heavy pumpers in the area that are not fitted with crew protection, burn over curtains and no ability to pump and roll.
Ground obs crew could not get fire mapper to upload, took 6+ hours to get anything to start uploading.
Harcourt
Appliance: NA – Service Capability
Issue: Summary of issues identified. FireMapper uploads confirmed as successful but not appearing on E-Map.
Ground intelligence data failing while air observer data uploaded correctly. ICC forced to rely on verbal updates and grid references instead of live mapping. Photos failing to upload, days after incidents. Manual emailing of impact assessment photos required.
FRV Melbourne Central District
Appliance: Service Availability
Issue: During the afternoon there were no appliances available to respond in Central, either being tied up at calls or drawn out of the district either responding to the 3rd Alarm or moving up as a result of the 3rd Alarm. Pumper 2B (West Melbourne) was moved up to FS80 Craigieburn and P1B (Eastern Hill) was moved up to FS81 South Morang as P80 Craigieburn was moved up to Shepparton and P81 South Morang to Wangaratta.
FS59 Derrimut
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Pump had failed and was spewing water out of the delivery side of the pump behind the near side pump panel. Consequently, firefighting operations being conducted by PT59b had to be stopped, P35B was required to move up to FS59 Derrimut to cover FS59 attending the 3rd alarm Factory fire at 10.56hrs. At 1209hrs that truck was broken down and would not start and had a burning smell. No spares available.
FS68 Delacombe
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Motor room front door bay 2 failed, the motor would not engage to open when a turnout was received. The door would also not open when the button was manually pressed. Motor room front door bay 3 has been out of commission since May 2025. The air conditioning unit and fan failed on HAZMAT 68. Showing brake pressure warning (Red fault) twice, delayed turnout due to air pressure.
Fire Rescue Victoria – All Districts
Appliance: All Distrcts
Issue: Telebooms at Fire stations 7, 22, 25 and 44 all out of commission
4 Aerial Pumps out of commission
3 Pumper Platforms out of commission
4 of 13 Ladder Platforms out of commission
Response times across the district blown out by up to 13 hours. No spares of any type available
Harcourt
Appliance: NA – Service Capability
Issue: Summary of issues identified
CFA issued mobile phone outdated, causing call delays.
PFIT kits unable to utilise other connectivity options (Hotspots or community supplied StarLink).
No resilient satellite connectivity available for field intelligence crews.
These issues collectively represent a serious operational risk
FS55 Caroline Springs
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Firefighting operations being conducted by PT59b had to be stopped, we had to bypass the truck and supply LP47 and sector 1 ground monitor with P55, which was approximately 50m away on an adjacent property.
The truck was then just left in place being unable to be used for the rest of the incident duration.
FS39 Port Melbourne
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: P39B. Broke down the week before Christmas when the exhaust pipe/muffler fell off awaiting fix. In a spare we turned out for a 2nd alarm house fire in South Melbourne in car 12, (P39A), and were delayed for 3-4 mins with an air lock. When we arrived on scene, our Pump wasn’t required for fire ground pumping, but on return, we couldn’t stow the roof monitor. Nor could we get the Pressure relief valve to work in manual mode.
There are no spares in the job.
FS47 Footscray
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: P47 went out of commission twice on NS of 7/01/26 due to alternator not working because of “heat” stress and also an air leak, which would ultimately result in the brakes locking on. This truck is one of the first MKV’s in the job. It is a ‘spare’. Our regular pumper 065 has been OOC for several months at workshops.
FS64 Belmont
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Near side mirror cracked ( unroadworthy) 2 months ago. Off side mirror motor U/S. Cant be moved with controls. Cab mount bushes have been worn out for over a year. Cab banging, clunking with normal driving. Front passenger seat belt is frayed badly. Unroadworthy. Truck well down on power with no solution.
FS47 Footscray
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Alternator not working because of “heat” stress and also an air leak, which would ultimately result in the brakes locking on. This truck is one of the first MKV’s in the job. It is a ‘spare’. Our regular pumper 065 has been OOC for several months at workshops.
FS39 Port Melbourne
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Roof Monitor Faulty. Pressure Relief Valve Faulty. Low Truck Air Pressure on Turnout:
When turning out to Call #3141, truck air pressure was found to be insufficient. The appliance was delayed for approximately three (3) minutes while air pressure built to an operational level, allowing the appliance to mobilise. This resulted in a significant delay to the response to a Second Alarm House Fire.
FS34 Highett
Appliance: Pumper Tanker
Issue: PT34, the radiator gauge was reading in the red for most of the day and we received multiple dash warnings. This lead to a decrease in acceleration and increase in Code 1 response time. The appliance also had no aircon vents for the Firefighters in the back seats and the vent in the front were not sufficient to cool the entire cabin. We received approx 6 calls during this time on this appliance alone.
FS55 Caroline Springs
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Fire fighters we are trained to adapt and overcome, and the crew on that day did this extremely well, however, on this day in particular, 44 degrees, subsequent 3rd alarm factory fire involving chemicals reiterates the lack of trust fand concerns for safety firefighters have in their equipment
FS30 Templestowe
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: PT30 out of commission while mechanic investigates and rectifies an air leak; Car 111 experiencing ongoing air system issues due to its age; repairing one leak often led to another roccuring elsewhere, particularly in hot weather. The vehicle has been taken out of service following a dashboard warning indicating “air consumption critical”. No move up was sent for it which there were none available.
FS76 Wadonga
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Pumper 76 has multiple mechanical issues. We had a Level 2 Firefighter (new) with us and they were asking about asset protection as that would be a likely scenario for us with the weather and nearby fires are as they were. It is bad when you are not expecting the truck to be reliable in situations like that.
FS50 Ascot Vale
Appliance: Pumper
Issue: Service Availability
Over a 7 hours period pumper 50 was dispatched as first responder to medical emergencies outside of its jurisdiction to areas such as Altona Meadows, Hoppers Crossing and Avondale Heights which resulted in service response targets being breached. Truck breakdowns in affected areas, no other trucks available to respond.
There are 792 CFA Tankers that are out of date, unsafe and unreliable – and should be off the road. 230 of those 792 CFA Tankers are over the age of 31 years old.
There are 213 FRV Fire Trucks that should be functioning and in service to protect Victorians.
However, 65% of FRV Fire Trucks – being 138 trucks – are out of date, unsafe and should be off the road. Many of these trucks are over 20 years of age – some as old as 35 years! This is unsafe, unreliable, and can fail you when you need them most.
These out of date and failing trucks are stationed all around the state – from Bendigo to Ringwood to Geelong to the Melbourne CBD.
The Government has known about this issue for years. The former Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes rejected in its entirety a FRV budget bid for critically needed FRV fire trucks. FRV said:
“As climate change is causing more frequent, prolonged and intense natural disasters, aged FRV appliances are likely to deteriorate at a more significant rate, exacerbating the need for investment. When ageing vehicles are stressed during large scale, prolonged emergency events, the impact and likelihood of failure will increase. These risks will diminish response capability and undermine the effectiveness of service delivery for Victorians and put the FRV workforce at risk.
In their current state, FRV do not have the fleet or equipment they need to sufficiently and sustainably protect their workforce and the diverse communities they serve…
If facing funding pressure, ESOs will necessarily prioritise funding for operational capability over priority operational assets, thereby leading to gaps in asset coverage. The current state of some emergency infrastructure undermines their fitness for purpose and service delivery capability.
FRV do not have the fleet or equipment they need to sufficiently protect personnel and communities.”
Source: FRV Budget Bid for Appliances
FRV Commissioner Gavin Freeman, Premier Jacinta Allan, Treasurer Jaclyn Symes and Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward have funded an Audit Report by KPMG over the state of FRV’s Fleet. The audit commenced as far back as January 2025 but the report has not been released. This report should be released immediately.
The CFA Annual Reports, which are audited by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, show that CFA’s Budget has continued to decrease over the last 4 years.
The CFA has been forced to rely upon adhoc, additional funding to continue to function as an agency.
The FRV Annual Reports, which are audited by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, show that FRV is spending 300% more on external consultants and millions of dollars on lawyers to litigate FRV Firefighters. More taxpayer money is being spent year-on-year on consultants and lawyers than on purchasing new trucks.
Neither FRV nor CFA have tabled their 2024/2025 Annual Reports in the Victorian Parliament. They are both overdue.
FRV has also been forced to rely upon adhoc, additional funding to continue to function as an agency.
Premier Jacinta Allan and former Emergency Services Minister (now Treasurer) Jaclyn Symes have turned their backs on their own local communities
The Allan Labor Government has not properly funded and resourced our volunteer and career firefighters, has ignored the CFA and FRV truck crisis and is now dealing with devastation of Victorian communities. The fire devastation is in senior Allan Government MPs’ own electorates and is the responsibility of Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward.
| Community | Details | Local ALP MP |
|---|---|---|
| Gobur community | Fatality and fire devastation | Treasurer Jaclyn Symes |
| Longwood community | Fire devastation | Treasurer Jaclyn Symes |
| Cobram community | Fire devastation | Treasurer Jaclyn Symes |
| Walwa community | Fire devastation | Treasurer Jaclyn Symes |
| Natimuk community | Fire devastation | Treasurer Jaclyn Symes |
| Streatham community | Fire devastation | Treasurer Jaclyn Symes |
| Ravenswood & Harcourt communities | Fire devastation | Premier Jacinta Allan, ALP MP Maree Edwards, Treasurer Jacinta Allan |
| Mount Mercer & Shelford communities | Fire devastation | ALP MP Michaela Settle, ALP MP Jacinta Ermacora, ALP MP Gayle Tierney |
| Kennedys Creek community | Fire devastation | ALP MP Michaela Settle, ALP MP Jacinta Ermacora, ALP MP Gayle Tierney |
| Colac/Otways communities | Fire devastation | ALP MP Michaela Settle, ALP MP Jacinta Ermacora, ALP MP Gayle Tierney |
This briefing paper explains why an urgent call for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the catastrophic 2026 Victorian fires is needed.
