Department of Fire and Emergency Services

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: • Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act 1998 • Fire Brigades Act 1942 • Bush Fires Act 1954 • Emergency Services Levy Act 2002 • Emergency Management Act 2005 The department was unaffected by the change in government following the 2017 Western Australian state elections. Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia , the first in Western Australia; now a museum 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. 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.) Country stations operate with a crew of one station officer and five fire fighters. Some metropolitan stations operate as relieving stations 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 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. 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. , there are 551 Bushfire Brigades with 20,227 volunteers. 37 of these stations are located in the Perth metropolitan area. 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 • Bushfire Centre of Excellence (training and research into Bushfire mitigation) • State Bushfire Mitigation • Bushfire Technical Services • Land Use Planning • Office of Bushfire Risk Management Ranks and insignia ==Stations==

Metropolitan Career fire stations. Along with the 25 career fire stations, there are 12 Volunteer Fire and Rescue stations located with in the Metropolitan Fire District, these stations are located at, Armadale, Falcon, Kalamunda, Kwinana, Metropolitan VFRS (located at Forrestfield) Mandurah, Mundaring, Rockingham, Roleystone, Secret Harbour and Yanchep. There is also 4 Volunteer Fire and Emergency Service stations, located at Baldivis, Bullsbrook, Karnup, and SWORD (State wide operational response division in Kewdale). Country Career fire stations ==Vehicles and equipment==

The department maintains and coordinates a range of specialist equipment and emergency response vehicles. This includes pumpers and tankers, aerial ladders and other equipment designed to combat incidents including search and rescue, urban search and rescue, firefighting and other natural disasters. Appliances used by DFES brigades groups and units include: Pumpers Tankers Firefighting tankers are used across all services, including CFRS, VFRS, VFES and BFB. Tankers are designated by their water capacity, 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) 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) (due to enter service in 2027/2028, first one to be stationed at Welshpool replacing one of the Pumps) • 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) • General Rescue Truck • Commuter Bus • Road Crash Rescue Tender • Flood Rescue Boat Aerial Fleet Gallery ==Incidents==

In February 2023, a Coulson Aviation Boeing 737-300 crashed while fighting fires in Fitzgerald River National Park; both pilots survived the crash. ==See also==