By Brett Kennedy
MOUNT Gambier’s Metropolitan Fire Service is operating with ageing and unreliable trucks with crews fearful of a mid-emergency breakdown, a fire fighter union official has warned.
The issue has been compounded by a 13-year-old pump truck, which was sent to Adelaide for repairs, being replaced with a 24-year-old appliance, considered a last resort option for crews given its age.
The station’s current lead truck is an 18-year-old appliance – three years beyond the government-recommended replacement age of 15 years – but that vehicle is also scheduled for repair in the coming weeks.
United Fire Fighters Union state secretary Max Adlam said under-resourcing was hurting MFS crews across the state, revealing Mount Gambier firefighters had stripped equipment from one truck before sending it to Adelaide for repair, fearing the gear would be taken to fill other crews’ needs.
Visiting the city this week to meet with MFS firefighters and Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell ahead of a planned mass rally in Adelaide next Thursday, Ms Adlam said firefighters were taking unprecedented action after years of “making do” and “covering the gaps”.
The protest follows around 18 months of enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations, with Ms Adlam stating firefighters were happy to accept a “modest” pay increase but were being “stonewalled” on resourcing.
Ms Adlam said the city’s appliances were without burnover protection and thermal imaging cameras, which she considered both essential components of firefighting.
Describing MFS crews as “ragged trousered philanthropists” who love their job and make it work despite being under-resourced, Ms Adlam called for the MFS and State Government – the dual employer of firefighters – to deliver an asset management plan for crews.
“We know we can’t get everything at once but when something reaches the end of its natural life, it ought to be replaced in a planned way,” Ms Adlam said.
“Firefighters make things work and in a way we’ve covered the problem up for too long,” she said.
“In the past there would have been a fleet of spares – now we have trucks being worked on for more than six months.”
Ms Adlam said investment in the engineering department was a priority given 40pc of the state’s appliances were beyond 15 years old, adding regional stations appeared to be “the poor cousin” of metropolitan crews.
“They hide these old trucks out in the regions and because they look shiny and bright and our people get out there and do the job, nobody realises,” Ms Adlam said.
“It has been spiraling down to a place where it isn’t going to be recovered from unless we do something.”
South Australian Emergency Services Minister Vincent Tarzia said the government was committed to ensuring the safety of hardworking firefighters and had provided more than $67.5m in additional funding to the MFS since March 2018
Mr Tarzia said the MFS currently had 12 new heavy urban appliances on order following additional funding of $3.2m in 2018/19 and a further $11.5m in the 2020/21 State Budget, forming part of the government’s overall $97.5m plan to create a more bushfire resilient South Australia.
An extra $2.8m is supporting the construction of a Heavy Aerial appliance.
“I met with Fraser Fire and Rescue representatives virtually in February and have a follow-up meeting later this month,” Mr Tarzia said.
“They have advised me the first of the 12 appliances will be delivered in April.”
However, Ms Adlam said despite claims of increased funding, she did not believe it had positively impacted on resourcing.
“We don’t think the budget is enough,” Ms Adlam said, adding Productivity Commission data showed South Australia’s MFS was funded almost $30 per person less in 2018/19 compared to the national average.
Firefighters and ambulance workers will join forces for a march from Victoria Square to Parliament House in Adelaide on Thursday as part of a campaign for better working conditions.
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