Department of Fire and Emergency Services

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 APM, Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner
Child agency	State Emergency Service
Website	www.dfes.wa.gov.au

Old Perth Fire Station, the first in WA; now a museum

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a 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 paid firefighters^[3] working from 23 metropolitan stations and 4 country stations.^[4] Number one fire station is located on Murray Street, Perth.

The Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service was created on 20 October 1885. In 2015 the volunteer services had 2,458 volunteer firefighters in over 93 brigades across the state.^[5][6]

The Bush Fire Service contains 580 Bush Fire Brigades with 21,946 volunteers.^[7]

The Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services (VFES) maintains VFES 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]

Stations

Metropolitan Career fire stations

Murdoch fire station, Perth, Western Australia.

Armadale Belmont (new station opened 3 November 2005, old station 1974 - 2005) Butler Canning Vale Claremont Daglish Duncraig Ellenbrook Fremantle

Hope Valley (opened 2 Nov 2005) Joondalup Kensington Kiara Maddington Malaga Mandurah Midland

Murdoch Osborne Park Perth (The original station, closed in 1979, still sits behind the current station and headquarters, as a museum.) Rockingham Success Wangara Welshpool

Country Career fire stations

Geraldton Kalgoorlie Albany Bunbury Vehicles and equipment The 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. Fighting a fire in Forrestdale Helitac 669 (AS350B3 Squirrel) operating during the fires in Perth, 4 February 2007 CHC Bell 412EP helicopter Medium pumper Bronto skylift Toodyay fire January 2010, helitanker at Toodyay Oval FESA Light tanker - Waroona FESA Ford support truck MIS10 FESA Hino 2.4 rural tanker - Middle Ward See also Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council References "Commissioner's Foreword". Department of Fire and Emergency Services Inaugural Report 2012/13 (PDF). p. 4. "DFES - Department of Fire and Emergency Services". dfes.wa.gov.au. A Centenary of Service, The Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia, 1999 History - Fire and Rescue Service, Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (2006) Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service "WA Volunteer Fire & Rescue Services Association" (PDF). WA Volunteer Fire & Rescue Services Association. "Bush Fire Service" (PDF). dfes.wa.gov.au. "Volunteer Fire Services". dfes.wa.gov.au.