A new Major Incident Control Unit (ICU) for Melbourne firefighters sits languishing in the MFB's training centre car park in Burnley. Despite a hefty $2 million spent to develop and build it, the vehicle can't leave the parking bay.

Designed as a state-of-the-art control, command and communication unit to coordinate operations at major fires, this 'big bus' can't go far because it's too long, too high and too heavy for Melbourne's roads.

"This is just another example of highly paid corporates and consultants making operational decisions when they're not firefighters," says UFU Victorian Branch Secretary Peter Marshall. "It looks like MFB management has no idea what firefighters need - or do - on the fire ground. Once again, it looks like we have the tail wagging the dog at the MFB."

Litany of problems
The new ICU is:
• too long – it needed to get a special VicRoads exemption to travel the city's streets; but the permit came with a weight limit, which make the 'big bus' just …
• too heavy – the weight of the vehicle and fittings means there is only 400 kg to spare for the crew and their gear. This is not enough for a complement of three firefighters, so the bus can't be legally only the road with an equipped crew on board. And there's more, as the big bus is …
• too high – there's only one servo the new ICU can fill up at. That's the one near the West Gate Bridge, because its canopy has more clearance than other service stations around town.

A long time coming
The new ICU has been in development for a couple of years and is designed for any three alarm incident or above. The original plan proposed by firefighters was to replace the current unit with two smaller buses that could be linked up at a major incident and also give the MFB the capability of running more than one incident at any one time.

"However, the MFB management brains trust got to the project and now we've got a very big bus that has everything in it – including the kitchen sink – but it isn't street legal," says one firefighter. "But that's MFB management for you; they reckon they're an irresistible force, but all they can produce is an immovable object."

Mag wheel solution
The current operations vehicle for major incidents is about 15 years old, so a replacement is long overdue. "MFB management is now looking at what equipment it can ditch from the bus," says Peter Marshall. "Members tell me Management is working on fitting alloy wheels to lighten the Unit's base weight. However, firefighters still can't load the portable equipment they need to take to incidents – like the hand held radios – because of the weight problem."

Says one frustrated firefighter, "As it stands we can have either very small, light firefighters - or the equipment - on board at one time. But we can't have both . If we do, we can't legally drive on the road to respond to a fire."

For the moment at least, it looks like the MFB's new $2m Incident Control Unit remains bogged in bureaucratic bungling.