Department of Fire and Emergency Services
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2012 |
| Superseding agency | Fire and Emergency Services of Western Australia (FESA) |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Western Australia |
| Agency executive | Mr Wayne Gregson, Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner |
| Child agency | State Emergency Service |
| Website | www.dfes.wa.gov.au |
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a Western Australian government department that is responsible for fire and emergency services in Western Australia. The department came into being in 2012 as a result of the Perth Hills Bush Fire review.[1]
History
It 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:[2]
- 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
This is effected through the management of the following services:
- The Fire and Rescue Service
- The Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service
- The Bush Fire Service
- The State Emergency Service
- Volunteer Marine Rescue Services
- Emergency Management Services
- Community Safety Services
Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia
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. WA Fire Brigades updated their name in 1995 to the Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia, to more accurately reflect the service provided to the communities of Western Australia.[3]
In 1999, with 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 Service actively maintain their original identities.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services was established in 2012 and replaced FESA. The first Fire and Emergency Commissioner Wayne Gregson was appointed. Wayne Gregson is a former WA Police Assistant Commissioner. A new state of the art headquarters is located at Stockton Bend, Cockburn Central. This building includes the state and metropolitan operations centres, statewide communications centre, operations/capability commands and corporate services.
The Career Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia consists of in excess of 850 professional firefighters[3] working from 23 metropolitan stations and 4 country stations.[4] Number one fire station is located at Murray Street, Perth.
The Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service was created on 20 October 1885. In 2007 the volunteer services had nearly 1,800 volunteer firefighters in over 90 brigades across the state.[5][6]
The Bush Fire Service contains 585 Bush Fire Brigades with 31,000 volunteers.[7]
The Volunteer Fire Services (VFS) maintains VFS Brigades which are established by combining the resources of a Bush Fire Service (BFS) Brigade and a Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) Brigade.[8]
These volunteers operate through ’
Stations
Metropolitan Career fire stations
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Country Career fire stations
Vehicles and equipmentThe Department maintains and coordinates a range of specialist equipment and emergency response vehicles. This includes pumpers and tankers, skylifts, aerial ladders and other equipment relating to operations involving search and rescue, firefighting, disaster, or reduction of the impact of these events.
See also
References
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