Melbourne firefighters and their Union are asking the public for help in its battle to solve serious problems at Melbourne's Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB).

"For the past decade, the State Government has sat on its hands and now Melbourne's firefighters are expected to carry on with old and dangerous equipment - and no place to train," says Peter Marshall, the UFUA Victoria Branch Secretary. "Add those overpaid Fire Service bureaucrats and Kennett / Howard era individual employment contracts to the mix, and we belive Premier John Brumby's inaction is putting the community at risk."

Crisis .. what crisis?
MFB management has taken its eye off the ball over the last few years and the results have been disastrous. For example, a new training complex in Burnley, built at a cost of $70 million, has taken four years to finish, but still can't be used. There is:
- no water available for training,
- engine bays that can't house fire appliances,
- training tower windows that can't accommodate ladders, and
- office windows that leak when it rains.

"Firefighter trainers call the Burnley complex a white elephant," says Peter Marshall. "They feel particularly aggrieved, given that the MFB closed down and sold off a world class training facility just up the road in Abbotsford. Yes, there was asbestos in the administration building there, but this could have been fixed for a mere one million dollars back in 2002."

If that course of action had been taken, the MFB might now have a spare $69 million to replace much of the worn out equipment Melbourne's firefighters are now forced to use. Melbourne firefighters would also have a facility off their own for training.

Hose free facility
Last week, the MFB admitted to an ABC news reporter that the only time the hoses have been used by firefighters at Burnley was during a PR stunt for the media, designed around the graduation of the latest group of trainees. However, they had to be careful as there are windows in the new facility that are too weak to withstand hose pressure water jets!

Training tourists
While paralysis has set in at Burnley, MFB firefighters and new recruits have to be shipped around the state to train. "It's 'all aboard to the bus' to the CFA facility at Fiskville, Bangholme or even further afield to Sale," says Peter Marshall. "If they're lucky, MFB firefighters might get to use borrowed facilities at Hawthorn or the Showgrounds."

Land of the lost pumper
You may be familiar with the three minute shower. However, D Platoon firefighters at Laverton North Station 49 have only four minutes more to deal with any fire they're called out to fight. That's because their antique truck has a mere seven minute pump-time capacity. "The station's modern pumper is in the repair bay and hasn't been seen for a year," says Peter Marshall. "Meanwhile, the summer grass-fire season is rapidly approaching and the crew at Laverton North are definitely not smiling."

New station, tricky driveway
Firefighters at Croydon (MFB FS 26) are moving to a new station facility, just across the railway line from their current location. However, it looks like they'll have to take their lives into their own hands every time they exit the new facility. That's because the driveway drops any vehicle leaving the new station right in the middle of the suburb's busiest intersection.

Everybody will be at risk; firefighters, road users and pedestrians alike. Luckily the MFB has agreed to an independent, expert investigation into reducing the dangers at the intersection. 12 ways to fix the problem have already been put forward - and we're still counting.

"A time consuming, expensive investigation such as this would not have been necessary if MFB management had been more focused on the main game," says Peter Marshall. "It really is time for the State Government to step in and fixed the MFB problem once and for all."

Dear John
The Union and MFB firefighters are asking all Melbournians to send a message to their local member of parliament asking for a high level inquiry into the Burnley training complex debacle. Firefighters and the Union also want the inquiry to look into MFB management's inability to do its job is other areas as well. These include:
- failure to replace antiquated, outdated equipment that's a danger to the community and firefighters alike,
- senior officers, whose success is in their ability to build and lead teams, being forced on to individual employment
contracts against their wishes, and
- a five year wait for much needed new uniforms and protective clothing for firefighters.

There is also the question of why the person in charge of the Fire Service is not a firefighter trained and experienced uniformed officer.

"Victorian Fire Services are funded from the community and business via the fire levies paid on insurance premiums," says Peter Marshall. "This can be up to 63% of a home or business insurance policy. Melbournians, concerned about the crisis in the fire service they fund, can send their demand for an inquiry directly to their local MP."