STATE CFA officials have been unable to provide clarity on a dearth of infrastructure funding in the rural city, amid calls for the Victorian Government to increase allowances for the state's fire response.
CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan visited Wangaratta late last week with senior infrastructure officials to discuss challenges posed to the rural city fire response following the temporary evacuation of Ely Street's District 23 headquarters and subsequent closure of the region's incident control centre ahead of this season's fire danger period.
District 23 assistant chief fire officer Stewart Kreltszheim had previously advocated for a new standalone headquarters, after staffing increases had rendered the existing headquarters and incident control centre unfit for purpose.
Mr Kreltszheim said discussions about moving to a new standalone District 23 headquarters had been "fruitful", but admitted funding was hard to come by in the current climate.
"We looked at a number of options – the Chief Officer and general manager infrastructure services committed to discussions about progressing one or more options," he said.
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"Wangaratta is one of many priorities across CFA – with COVID, there's a lot of pressure on where public dollars get spent.
"All we can do is advocate for the money we need to serve the community the best we can."
However, Wangaratta group officer Lachie Gales said the situation was fast becoming untenable, with urgent funding also required to develop a Wangaratta group headquarters, in an effort to actively manage and support the region's 16 fire brigades.
The group has resided sporadically at Wangaratta's District 23 headquarters since 2004, but Mr Gales said the absence of a separate facility for the Wangaratta group meant it was now clouded in uncertainty.
"Wangaratta hasn't had a group headquarters for more than a decade – we've been doing our best to cope with a pretty ordinary situation for a long time," he said.
"They (CFA officials) understand our situation and we understand their difficulties – the CFA funding model is deeply flawed – this is not a new situation, but we're feeling the pointy end of it.
"Without a group headquarters, our operation capacity is severely diminished and our ability to sustain coordinated and effective leadership of our brigades is at risk."
According to Mr Gales, existing budgeting demands within the CFA meant prioritising new infrastructure would jeopardise the provision of new tankers and vital equipment barring significant government assistance.
He said he and other CFA officials had formally reached out to Minister for Emergency Services Jaclyn Symes in recent weeks, but were yet to receive a response.
"I've written to the minister – I spoke to her at the opening for the new SES building," he said.
"She's well aware of our dilemma.
"CFA are not in a position to resolve this without additional assistance – the government will squeeze CFA to find funds in existing budgets.
"We do not want to detract from the delivery of new tankers for our group or any other group – the CFA are absolutely empathetic with our situation.
"I don't think we're asking too much to get the basic tools to respond in the way the community expects."
