The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a government department responsible for fire and emergency services in Western Australia. The department came into being in 2012 as a result of the Perth Hills Bush Fire review.[1] DFES is responsible for the management, training and funding of career and volunteer Services including:
DFES currently employs 1,249 career firefighters and over 600 staff members as well as over 29,000 volunteers in the six services statewide.[3]
There are also 2,579 members in the emergency services Cadets and Youth programs across five services.[3]
History
The DFES was formerly known as the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (FESA), a statutory government authority created in January 1999 to administer the following legislation within the state of Western Australia:[4]
Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act 1998
Old Perth Fire Station, the first in Western Australia; now a museumMurdoch fire station
The inaugural meeting of the Fire Brigades' Board was held on 16 January 1899. This later led to the establishment of the Western Australian Fire Brigades' Board in 1909. Western Australian Fire Brigades updated their name in 1995 to Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia to more accurately reflect the service provided to the communities of Western Australia.[6]
In 1999, the creation of FESA brought together the Fire and Rescue Service and the Bush Fire Service to form the Fire Services Division of FESA. The Fire and Rescue Service and Bush Fire Service actively maintain their original identities.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services was established in 2012 and replaced FESA. The first Fire and Emergency Commissioner Wayne Gregson was appointed. Wayne Gregson is a former Western Australia Police assistant commissioner. A new state of the art headquarters is located at Stockton Bend in Cockburn Central. This building includes the state and metropolitan operations centres, statewide communications centre, operations and capability commands and corporate services.
Structure
DFES operates under the Emergency Services Minister of the Government of Western Australia and is the Hazard Management Agency (HMA) for cyclones, floods, storms, tsunami, structural collapses, HAZMAT incidents, earthquakes and fires. Their operational branch comprises metropolitan and country operations, operations capability and oversees the listed services.
The Career Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia (FRS or CFRS) consists of 1,249 paid firefighters working from 25 metropolitan stations and four country stations. Career firefighters attend a 21 week training course held at the academy in Forrestfield. They work on a roster of two 10-hour day shifts followed by two 14-hour night shifts and then four days off. Metropolitan stations operate with at least one urban pumper and light tanker, with a crew of one station officer and three firefighters. (Perth station does not run light tankers.)[relevant?] Country stations operate with a crew of one station officer and five fire fighters.[7] Some metropolitan stations operate as relieving stations[further explanation needed] where two additional firefighters are on shift, these firefighters will fill short staffing at other stations if the need arises.
Appliance allocation is typically one urban pumper and one light tanker, with a second pump located at Perth, Vincent, Daglish, Fremantle, Welshpool and Bunbury. Two CLP's[expand acronym] are located at Perth and Fremantle stations. Two SET's[expand acronym] are located at Murdoch and Osborne Park. Four permanent Urban Tankers[further explanation needed] are located at Joondalup, Malaga, Cardup and Canning Vale. With additional Urban Tankers brought online[colloquialism] at Ellenbrook, Hope Valley, Midland, Welshpool and Maddington, during the high threat period. The ICV[expand acronym] is located at Belmont Station, the POD carrier[expand acronym] is also located at Canning Vale.
The Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) is a volunteer service predominantly attending motor vehicle accidents, structure fires and HAZMAT incidents outside of metropolitan areas. In 2024 the VFRS had 2,219 volunteer firefighters in 93 brigades across the state.[8][9]
The Bush Fire Service (BFS) is a volunteer service tasked with[colloquialism] attending any fire outside of a gazetted fire district within a Brigade's Local Government area. They predominantly combat bushfires and conduct hazard reduction burning on a local level. As of 2024[update], there are 551 Bushfire Brigades (BFBs) with 20,227 volunteers.[3]
The Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services (VFES) is also a volunteer service. It was established to combine the resources of any combination of a BFS Brigade, a VFRS Brigade, MR Group or[which?] an SES Unit to replace the Volunteer Fire Services (VFS) and Volunteer Emergency Service (VES) in 2016[10][3] It has just over 1,184 volunteers as of 2024[update].
The State Emergency Service (SES) is a volunteer service with the role of attending a vast array[colloquialism?] of natural disasters and search and rescue incidents.[vague] They attend land searches for missing people, storm damage, urban search and rescue (USAR), cliff rescue, road crash rescue, transporting personnel and equipment to fires as well as many other roles. The SES has a K9 unit with volunteer's dogs being trained in searching for missing people and a mounted unit for land searches. As of 2024[update] they had 1,020 members and 64 units.
The Marine Rescue Service Western Australia (VMRS) is another volunteer service tasked with assisting the Western Australian Police with searches for missing people or vessels, assisting disabled vessels and rescues in water around the state. As of 2024[update] there are 39 MRS Groups with 1,570 volunteers.[11][3]
In April 2018 a new Rural Fire Division was announced after the findings of the 2016 Waroona Bushfire Special Inquiry. It will be[when?] another branch under the DFES structure and will consist of:[needs update][12]
Bushfire Centre of Excellence (training and research into Bushfire mitigation)[13]
Bushfire Mitigation Branch
Bushfire Technical Services
Land Use Planning
Office of Bushfire Risk Management
Ranks and insignia
DFES
Title
Epaulette
Helmet
Commissioner
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background below a crown.
Black
2 × white stripes on both sides
Deputy Commissioner
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background below 3 pips
Black
1 × white stripe on both sides
Assistant Commissioner
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background below 2 pips
Black
Chief Superintendent
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background below 1 pip
Vehicles are named based on their water capacity, drive type (2×4/4×4) and role. For example, 1.4R means approximately 1,000 litres (260USgal), 4×4, designed for a rural environment.
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Scania Urban Pumper (UPT1)
Combination Ladder Platform (CLP)
Incident Control Vehicle (ICV)
Hazmat Structure Rescue (UPT3)
POD Carrier
3.4U Urban Tanker
VFRS/CFRS Light Tanker
Bush Fire Service Light tanker
Bush Fire Service Isuzu 4.4 rural tanker
Bush Fire Service Isuzu 1.4 rural tanker
Isuzu 12.2 bulk water tanker
