Yesterday morning, Fire Station 63 Geelong City had its loaner ladder platform towed away after another failure. This truck is well past its service life, with a long history of breakdowns.
Today, Ballarat City’s Fire Station 67 has taken its ladder platform off the road due to ongoing faults. There is no replacements left in the state and now a truck has to be shuffled from the South East suburbs, leaving their community exposed.
These trucks are both 7 years past their service life. Mechanics are constantly chasing failures caused by ageing equipment — and firefighters can no longer keep gambling with their lives or the community’s safety.
This is Victoria’s “world class” fire service.
Ageing fleet. Constant breakdowns. No replacements.
The Allan Government must properly fund our fire services before it’s too late.