In short:
Residents in growth areas of Melbourne are experiencing worsening responses to fire emergencies, Fire Rescue Victoria data shows.
asserted
data → experience → emergencies
While the volume of emergency call-outs has increased, the number of trucks offline for repair has hit "critical" levels.
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number → increase → levels
Victoria's emergency services minister maintains that response times are the best in Australia but says further funding for fire services has been requested.
Freda Kililit's thoughts are ravaged by "what if" moments two years after her home burnt down.
The mother and nurse started her day hours later than usual due to a shift change, when she noticed an ominous glow from the neighbour's backyard.
Her husband and baby were upstairs at home in Clyde North, in Melbourne's outer south-east, unaware of the impending disaster.
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husband → maintain → disaster
She was also aware a baby lived in the neighbouring property where the fire was quickly spreading.
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fire → live → property
"I immediately worried and panicked," she recalled.
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she → worry → ?
Ms Kililit told her husband to go downstairs, called Triple Zero (000), and ran next door to alert the family.
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Kililit → tell → family
"You're just imagining the worst possible scenario," she said.
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she → imagine → scenario
"You're just thinking: 'The baby, the baby'."
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You → think → baby
While the neighbours were away, she managed to wake up an occupant inside who was visiting.
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who → manage → occupant
As the minutes past and the fire spread onto her property, Ms Kililit listened for the reassuring sound of sirens approaching.
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Kililit → past → sirens
She called Triple Zero again to make sure they had the right address.
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they → call → address
Clyde North was due to have a new Fire Rescue Victoria station built in 2023.
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station → have → 2023
Yet even today, construction hasn't begun.
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construction → begin → ?
The nearest professional firefighters had to come from Cranbourne, more than five kilometres away.
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firefighters → have → Cranbourne
When professional firefighters eventually arrived, later than target response times, Ms Kililit's home was ablaze.
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home → arrive → times
"I usually work on Sunday mornings," she said.
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she → work → mornings
"If I worked that day, and didn't see that fire, it would have had a terrible outcome for my family."
Response rates falling short
For firefighters, every minute is crucial.
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minute → work → firefighters
To reduce the "what ifs", Fire Rescue Victoria has targets that stations should hit 90 per cent of the time.
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stations → reduce → time
These targets state firefighters should get to a blaze within 7.7 minutes.
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firefighters → get → minutes
Firefighters have for years raised concerns about the lack of resources to get to jobs on time.
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Firefighters → raise → time
New trucks, stations, and crews simply aren't being added to the mix to keep up with Melbourne's sprawling population growth, firefighters have argued.
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firefighters → add → growth
The ABC analysed publicly available data for ten fire stations in outer suburban regions identified by Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) as growth areas.
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ABC → analyse → areas
The data showed not only were response times worse than FRV's targets, but that there was a clear trend of response times becoming slower over the years.
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times → show → years
The data also showed these regions performed significantly worse than the state average, which was also below FRV targets.
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which → show → targets
He spoke to the ABC as a member of the United Firefighters Union.
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He → speak → Union
Mr Barker said slowing response times were "embarrassing" for firefighters.
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times → say → firefighters
"Fire has more time to develop and expand and spread.
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Fire → have → time
It's increased property loss.
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It → increase → ?
"And more seriously, the likelihood of survivability of someone trapped by fire is significantly reduced."
In 2020, all career firefighters were amalgamated into one organisation: Fire Rescue Victoria.
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firefighters → trap → organisation
Volunteers who support professional crews or service less populated regional areas remain with the Country Fire Authority.
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who → support → Authority
As well as slowing response times, FRV data also showed the areas of concern were experiencing a consistent increase in the number of emergency incidents firefighters were responding to.
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firefighters → slow → incidents
The latest Fire Service Outcomes Framework Progress Report provided a scathing assessment of the issue, after it pointed out FRV has not met response times since 2020.
"
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FRV → provide → 2020
This issue has persisted for too long, and as a risk to community safety, necessitates action by FRV," the report said.
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report → persist → FRV
In the report, FRV blamed population growth for fuelling traffic congestion and expanding areas firefighters need to drive to, adding "significant capital investment" was needed to address the problem.
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investment → blame → problem
Emergency Services Minister Paul Edbrooke said Victoria had "the best response times in the country" but accepted there was "always room for improvement".
"I've met with the chief officer of FRV [and] the chief officer of CFA quite regularly," he said.
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he → say → CFA
"Any time they have a request, [I am] more than happy to entertain that and twist the treasurer's arm behind his back to make sure they get what they need."
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they → have → what
Back in 2021, FRV mapped areas firefighters could not reach within benchmark response times.
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firefighters → map → times
The intention is to show gaps in the system, which could be addressed with more fire stations.
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which → show → stations
Station officer Geoff Barker said the failure to address the problem was destroying morale.
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failure → say → morale
"We go to a fire and we witness increased property loss and damage and that could have been prevented,"he said.
"
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that → go → loss
…and 60 more, not listed.
