So far, there are no plans in the south-west to form breakaway volunteer firefighting groups. 

But in a risky and controversial move, in other parts of the state they are arming themselves with the gear needed to battle blazes so that they can protect livestock and property in the event of a fire.

Basically, they have lost faith in the Country Fire Authority to protect their interests, believing that CFA volunteers’ hands are being increasingly tied by red tape.

That view is held because in the past, farmers say, CFA trucks have been nearby while farmhouses and livestock were left to burn.

Farmers are no strangers to fighting fires and are often the first responders, successfully tackling blazes on theirs or their neighbours’ properties before the CFA arrives.

As long as they play safe there is nothing essentially wrong with that if it prevents an expensive loss of stock or property.

But the stakes are being raised sharply with farmers in some areas organising themselves into an alternative fire-fighting force tooled up with fire trucks and radio and protective gear while seeking money from sponsors to pay for it all.

Fire Services Comm-issioner Craig Lapsley is unimpressed and has pleaded with farmers to simmer down and work through the issues with the CFA.

However, this is unlikely with farmers declaring that they have been treated as second-class citizens for too long.

If there are issues with how the CFA is responding to fire on farmland, they must be addressed with the Victorian Farmers Federation and dealt with, for what is the point of having an army of trained volunteers if they are not helping to save property?

And while the move by farmers to form an alternative force appears to have been driven out of desperation, it has the potential to be highly dangerous.

A compromise is urgently required between farmers and the CFA so that an integrated, not a competitive, approach is being taken to fire-fighting in rural areas.