Firefighters from Fire Station 73 Bendigo travelled over 2.5 hours to assist at multiple buildings on fire in Sea Lake with local brigades saving the local pharmacy. Sadly, two other buildings were lost despite the best efforts of CFA crews.
Professional firefighters assisted with aerial access and extinguishing deep-seated hotspots with their Ladder Platform, a truck now 7 years past its service life.
Normally, a Pumper Platform would respond from Fire Station 72 Mildura, around 2 hours away, but that truck is offline. With a crippling shortage of aerial appliances across Victoria, there was no replacement available — forcing a response from Bendigo and adding a 30-minute delay for local crews.
This is an overstretched fire service caused by ongoing neglect from the Allan Government. Firefighters should not be delayed while Victorians pay twice as much emergency services tax and receive less of a fire service as funding to CFA and FRV is cut.
The Allan Government slashes. Victoria burn
