WorkSafe probes CFA fleet safety after oldest fire truck turns 37

WorkSafe Victoria is "making inquiries" into the Country Fire Authority's aging truck fleet after safety concerns were raised by a lobby group.

The CFA Volunteers Group (CFAVG) contacted the regulator in May with a request for an investigation into the CFA's single-cab tankers.

WorkSafe told the ABC that inspectors were making "ongoing inquiries to ensure health and safety risks are being adequately addressed".

Inspectors have already met with CFA authorities at their Melbourne headquarters and visited several brigades in regional Victoria.

The CFA, which has been contacted for comment, is reportedly providing information to WorkSafe and facilitating access to appliances and documentation.

CFAVG president John Houston said repeated calls for more funding and better equipment had fallen on deaf ears, which prompted the group to approach WorkSafe.

"We have to recognise these trucks are no longer fit for purpose and are no longer safe," Mr Houston said.

"We believe that these concerns deserve some kind of independent scrutiny. It seemed to be the only course of action we could get some response from."

Single-cab tankers 'outdated'

A single-cab tanker fits three crew members in the enclosed cab, while a modern dual-cab tanker has the capacity to accommodate a crew of up to six.

Mr Houston said the single-cab tankers were a health and safety risk to the volunteers who had to ride on the back of the truck and those in the cab, which lacked air conditioning.

The CFAVG said the backlog of "out-of-date" tankers had been growing steadily for the past decade.

Emergency Services Minister Paul Edbrooke acknowledged the tankers have a life span and said he was happy to meet with anyone who had "suggestions" for improvements.

"If the CFA chief officer wants to talk about how we maybe manage the fleet, I'm more than open to those discussions," he said during a visit to Euroa last week.

"Certainly, as a former CFA volunteer, the trucks that are there now are light years ahead of the trucks that I was driving around in under a former government."

A Victorian government spokesperson said the CFA was "stronger, better funded and better resourced under Labor, with more trucks, modern stations and the equipment they need".

"Labor has increased the CFA's funding year-on-year with a new truck rolling out at a rate of every four days and every CFA region receiving new infrastructure funding in the latest budget," they said.

The CFA does not provide clear figures on its rolling replacement program, but data provided by the CFAVG showed there were 225 new primary tankers registered to regional brigades between 2016 and 2025.

In the 10 years before that 453 new tankers were delivered.

There are about 1,400 primary tankers distributed across 1,209 regional and peri-urban brigades.

Those are different to brigade-owned tankers, which are purchased with the help of the state government. The primary tankers are CFA-owned and state government-funded and can be shuffled around brigades at the CFA's discretion.

It is not the first time the CFAVG has pushed for better equipment.

Earlier this year the CFAVG submitted a report to the bushfire inquiry that detailed issues ranging from poor funding to outdated tankers and equipment, volunteer retention, poor communication services, and poor roadside vegetation and fuel load management.

The oldest CFA tanker in service is the Muckatah Brigade's two-wheel drive, single-cab tanker, built in July 1989.

The 37-year-old tanker is 17 years past its nominal use-by date and Muckatah CFA captain Glen Hamson said its reliability was a matter of concern.

"Late last year we had an issue with the pump on our tanker, which essentially blew up and we had to put the tanker in for repairs," he said.

"We were essentially without the tanker for four or five months and had to use a spare tanker in that time."

The tanker is not used for strike team duties, which limits the brigade's involvement in wider firefighting efforts, and Mr Hamson said there was no clear timeline for its replacement.

"There's this talk it's at the top of the list to be replaced, but there's no time frame that's been clearly specified," he said.