A Pumper at Lucas had its on-board foam pump fail yesterday, with spare parts at least a month away. Unfortunately, a portable transfer pump supplied to assist has been taken offline due to OHS risks.
With no spares Pumpers for Division B stations across Victoria, Lucas will be relying on a time costly manner to get its foam tank refilled and ready to assist in an emergency.
Response time is critical when battling a fire and delays due to unavailable appliances puts the community and firefighters at risk.
Lucas Station supports a vast area of North West Victoria, leaving the community in those areas with reduced capacity in battling fires.
FRV and the State Government need to address the state of our Firefighting Fleet, to ensure that Victorians get the world class service they pay for through the fire service levy.
It is incomprehensible that Victoria has no spare Pumpers for Div B stations on a weekend when the mercury will be soaring.
