The brigade responded to 97 per cent of callouts from July to September 30 this year within the benchmark eight minutes response time.

Its average response time for 90 per cent of emergency calls was 7.08 minutes, quicker than its 8.01 minutes average for the April to June quarter.

Warrnambool Fire Brigade officer in charge Paul Marshall said while it had been quicker to get to fires during the past quarter, its response procedure was no different to the previous quarter.

Mr Marshall said it was the location of most fires closer to the brigade’s centre in Mortlake Road during the past quarter that enabled it to cut its average response time.

The Warrnambool brigade’s area extends from Deakin University in the east, to Woodford in the north and the Merri River in the west.

A quarterly report by the CFA on emergency response times across the state shows the Warrnambool CFA  brigade’s response times are well ahead of the Hamilton and Portland brigades.

Portland’s responded to 82 per cent of callouts within eight minutes  with an average time of 8.55 minutes for 90 per cent of emergencies.

Hamilton responded to 80 per cent of callouts within eight minutes with an average response time of 8.13 minutes for 90 per cent of emergency callouts.  

Warrnambool had 68 emergency callouts in July to September, down from the 77 it had from April to June.

Portland had 11 emergency callouts, down from 14 in the previous quarter and Hamilton 10, down from 18.