A Wyndham firefighter believes Point Cook’s fire service is being “compromised” with the station having been forced to rely solely on volunteers three times in the past five weeks.
Point Cook CFA station was closed between 6pm and 8am last Wednesday/Thursday because there was no station officer available.
Staff called 30 CFA stations stretching from Warrnambool to Mildura but were unable to find a replacement, meaning the station was placed on volunteer response.
The station was also placed on volunteer response on August 8 and September 2 because of a staff shortage.
The CFA maintains that the staff shortages did not mean the station was closed, saying volunteers turned out to incidents and emergencies as they always have.
But the firefighter, who asked not to be named, said relying on volunteers to respond to incidents was compromising the service being provided in Point Cook.
The firefighter said volunteers worked hard but were not always able to respond to fires.
The firefighter said there was also a difference in response times, with career firefighters required to respond within 90 seconds, while volunteers took longer.
“We need more cover. At the moment, people are doing extra shifts and longer shifts,” he said.
The United Firefighters Union has backed the Wyndham firefighter’s call for more staff, saying more firefighters were needed to service Victoria’s growing population.
A CFA spokesman said Point Cook’s fire service was not being compromised, with a minimum of two brigades, including
MFB brigades, turning out to almost all incidents.
“Where necessary, the fire services support each other with trucks and staff, sharing resources on either side of the metropolitan fire service boundary,” the spokesman said.
