Victoria’s firefighting union has hit out at the state government over the condition of Geelong City’s fire rescue fleet, with all dedicated vehicles out of commission.
Replacements, up to 20 years old.
A pump built in 07
B pump built in 10
Rescue built in 06
Ladder built in 04
Victoria’s firefighting union has hit out at the state government over the condition of Geelong’s fire rescue fleet, labelling it “second rate”.
In a social media post on Tuesday night, the United Firefighters Union’s (UFU) Victorian branch said the fleet was in “disrepair”.
It’s understood the specific fleet issues raised related to Geelong City fire station, FS63, and not other stations operated by Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) in Geelong, including Belmont, Corio and Lara.
The union’s shop steward at Geelong City fire brigade, Paul Read, said the station’s primary fleet of four was out of date and in “urgent need of upgrade”.
“Similar to Victoria’s fleet across the state (Geelong City’s fleet), is experiencing significant issues with repairs and maintenance,” he said.
Mr Read said that, at present, all of Geelong’s fleet was either broken down or being serviced.
“The ladder platform is being repaired, pumper A is waiting on parts from Sweden, pumper B blew a transmission line,” he said.
The 16-year-old rescue truck is offline due to rust being cut out, there is no timeline on when it will return.”
It comes days after Geelong firefighters responded to five separate fires – believed to be linked – in Belmont.
