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 Bushfire.[1] The DFES is responsible for the management, training and funding of career and volunteer services including:
The DFES currently employs 1,249 career firefighters and over 600 staff members, as well as over 29,000 volunteers in the six services state-wide.[3]
There are also 2,579 members in the Emergency Services Cadets and Youth programs across five services.[3]
History
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services 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 Services actively maintain their original identities.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services was established in 2012 and replaced FESA. Wayne Gregson (a former Western Australia Police assistant commissioner) was appointed the first Fire and Emergency Commissioner. The current headquarters are located at Stockton Bend in Cockburn Central. This building includes the state and metropolitan operations centres, state-wide communications centre, operations and capability commands and corporate services.
Structure
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services operates under the Emergency Services Minister of the Government of Western Australia and is the Hazard Management Agency 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 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 CLPs (Combined Ladder Platforms) are located at Perth and Fremantle stations. Two SET's (Specialised Equipment Tender) 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 added at Ellenbrook, Hope Valley, Midland, Welshpool and Maddington, during the high threat period. The ICV (Incident Control Vehicle) is located at Belmont Station, The POD carrier 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 in large urban areas. In 2024 the VFRS had 2,219 volunteer firefighters in 93 brigades across the state.[8][9]
The Bush Fire Service is a volunteer service who attend 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 with 20,227 volunteers.[3]
The Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services is also a volunteer service, established to combine the resources of any combination of a Bush Fire Service Brigade, a VFRS Brigade, MR Group or an SES Unit to replace the Volunteer Fire Services and Volunteer Emergency Service in 2016[10][3] It has just over 1,184 volunteers as of 2024[update].
The State Emergency Service (SES) refers to a number of civil defence organisations that provide assistance during and after natural disasters and in search and rescue incidents where elevated equipment and skills are needed compared to more general emergency services. They attend land searches for missing people, storm damage, urban search and rescue, cliff rescue, road crash rescue, transporting personnel and equipment to fires as well as many other roles. The SES has a K9 unit with volunteers' 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 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]
State Bushfire Mitigation
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
Waterous CGVK (PTO) single stage 3,000L/min (790USgal/min) at 1.0MPa (150psi)
Water: 1,200L (320USgal)
Foam A: 60L (16USgal)
Foam B: 200L (53USgal)
Paull and Warner Resources
CP
Urban Pump Type 2
(Previously Country Pump)
Iveco Eurocargo
Waterous CGVK (PTO) single stage 3,000L/min (790USgal/min) at 1.0MPa (150psi)
Water: 1,200L (320USgal)
Foam A: 60L (16USgal)
Foam B: 200L (53USgal)
Frontline Fire and Rescue
(CP18 and 3 Indian Ocean Territories trucks)
Isuzu FTR
Waterous CGVK (PTO) single stage 3,000L/min (790USgal/min) at 1.0MPa (150psi)
Water: 1,200L (320USgal)
Foam A: 60L (16USgal)
Foam B: 200L (53USgal)
WA Fire Appliances
Paull and Warner Resources (CP20)
HS
Urban Pump Type 3
(Previously HSR, HAZMAT Structural Rescue)
Isuzu FTS 4x4
Waterous CLSK (PTO) single stage 1,800L/min (480USgal/min) at 1.0MPa (150psi)
Water: 1,400L (370USgal)
Foam A: 60L (16USgal)
Foam B: 200L (53USgal)
McDonald Johnson
Southwest Fire Units
Frontline Fire and Rescue
Tankers
Firefighting tankers are used across all services, including CFRS, VFRS, VFES and BFB. Tankers are designated by their water capcity, drive type (2wd or 4wd), and capability. For example, 1.4R means approximately 1,000 litres, 4×4, designed for a rural environment.
B - Broadacre Tanker - Designed for fighting mostly farmland and cropping areas, has minimal stowage on the vehicle.
R - Rural Tanker - Designed for fighting fires in the rural area. This designation is no longer in production.
U - Urban Tanker - Designed for urban envoriments, and townships, has the capabilities to go off road, carrys Urban fire fighting stowage which may include Breathing Apparatus.
Tankers also include a range of comprehensive crew protection items, this includes, in-cab air units, radiant heat shields, burnover blankets, crew protection deluge system, and automatic vehicle locator (AVL)
Fleet ID
Appliance Type
Appliance Specifications
Body Builder
Cab Chassis
Pump and Capacity
Water and Foam Capacity
LT (DFES)
N/E (Local Government
Light Tanker/Ultra Light Tanker
Landcruiser 79 Series
GAAM MK70 close coupled to HATZ 1B50 engine, 550 L/min at 5 Bar
GAAM MK70 close coupled to Honda GX270 engine, 550 L/min at 5 Bar
Water: 500L
Foam A: 20L
Technifire
Frontline Fire and Rescue (Ultra Light Tankers)
RU (DFES)
N/E (Local Government)
1.4R / 1.4Tanker
Mitsubishi Canter
Isuzu NPS Iveco Daily
GAAM MK125 close coupled to Kubota Z482 engine, 350 L/min at 7 Bar (Iveco Daily)
GAAM MK125 close coupled to HATZ 2G40 engine, 350 L/min at 7 Bar (Mitsubishi/Iszusu)
Water: 1000 - 1400L
Foam A: 20L
Technifire
Frontline Fire and Rescue
BT/UT (DFES)
N/E (Local Government)
2.4UT / 2.4B / 2.4R
Isuzu FTS/FSS
Hino FT
Waterous CP-2 close coupled to Isuzu 4CE1, 1200 L/min at 7 bar (2.4B)
PTO Driven Hale AP-50, 1800 L/min at 10 Bar (2.4R/UT) GAAM MK300/400 close coupled to HATZ 2L41C, 1500 L/min at 10 bar (2.4UT)
Water: 2,000–2,400L (530–630USgal)
Foam A: 20–60L (5.3–15.9USgal)
Foam B: 200L (53USgal)
WA Fire Appliances (2.4R)
South West Fire Units (2.4UT) Varley Group (2.4B)
UT (DFES)
N/E (Local Government)
3.4UT
Isuzu FTS
PTO driven Waterous CLVK, 1800 L/min at 10 bar.
Waterous CLVT close coupled to Isuzu 4JG1 engine, 1800 L/min at 10 bar.
Water: 3,000–3,600L (790–950USgal)
Foam A: 60L (16USgal)
Foam B: 200L (53USgal)
McDonald Johnson Engineering
Frontline Fire and Rescue
BT (DFES)
N/E (Local Government)
4.4R / 4.4B
Isuzu FTS
Tatra T815 Volvo FL Iveco Eurocargo (no longer available)
PTO Driven Hale AP-50, 1800 L/min at 10 Bar (4.4R)
GAAM MK300 close coupled to HATZ 4L41C or Isuzu 4CE1, 1100 L/min at 7 bar
Water: 4,000–4,600L (1,100–1,200USgal)
Foam A: 40L (11USgal)
WA Fire Appliances (4.4R)
Frontline Fire and Rescue (4.4B)
Specialist Vehicles
Road Crash Rescue Tender (RCR)
Bulk Water Tankers (BWT) 9.2 and 12.2
Incident Control Vehicle (ICV)
Combination Ladder Platform (CLP)
Combination Aerial Pumper Appliance (CAPA)
POD Carrier
Vertical Rescue Vehicle (VRV)
Rehabilitation Vehicle
SES/Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services vehicles
Personnel Carrier (Toyota Landcruiser 70 Series V8 Troop Carrier used to transport personnel and equipment to incidents)
General Rescue Utility (Isuzu NPS 75-155/NPR 75-190 used to transport rescue/communications equipment to incidents)
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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
