Lennie Gore, 65, previously ran a learner driver business but suffered a range of injuries during 2009 near Churchill on the Monday after Black Saturday.

He is now on a disability pension, only received four months' pay from the CFA and has lost his business.

"I'm living in poverty and relying on other people for my next meal," he said.

Mr Gore said that back in 2009 he was self-employed, earning an excellent wage, working up to 80 hours a week but was now living on well under half his previous salary and still had a mortgage.

"The CFA says you are full covered by insurance. I took that to mean my wage at that time, but the real situation is far different," he said.

Mr Gore warned volunteer farmers that if they were injured during the course of their CFA duties and unable to work they would only be covered by a replacement 38-hour a week labourer.

He said there was also no cover for superannuation.

"A lot of farmers would be out of business in a few weeks," he said.

The former driving instructor said he was working with a Warrnambool crew near Churchill when another crew member's mistake while driving down a steep hill led to him being thrown back against a handrail.

"I was knocked out, fell to the floor, damaged my head and jaw and suffered a brain injury. I also injured cartilage in my neck, dislocated my shoulder pulling the tendon off the bone, suffered a lower spine injury and also hurt my right hip," he said.

"I was told I was unconscious for about 15 minutes. The major problem was my head injury. My short term memory is now terrible.

"I've been told it's like Gulf War syndrome where soldiers were wearing heavy helmets in IED explosions and suffered knocks to the brain stem."

Mr Gore said the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 inspired him to volunteer with the CFA.

He said he was able to structure his working life around fire fighting activities in January and February each year to go off fighting bushfires across the state.

"I would take time off to go fighting bushfires, there were experienced crews who went from Warrnambool and across the south-west and we would meet up at the fires," he said.

"I worked as an air and ground observer to plot fires. I went to a lot of fires –  Dergholm, Halls Gap, Dargo, Pomborneit, Tyrendarra and Bessiebelle. I was a specialist volunteer for years for those two months.

"I was able to pursue that passion as a volunteer and worked hard during the year so I could do that."

Mr Gore said he wanted to warn volunteers about the CFA insurance coverage.

"The CFA is self-insured, they have no investments to draw on and insurance is paid out of its budget. I've got a letter from (Emergency Services Minister) James Merlino which basically says they can't afford to pay," he said.

"The TAC has been a great help. I still get injections in the back of my head every five weeks and do rehab in the pool and gym, but I've been through a bit.

"I can't sit still for more than 20 minutes, I have trouble sleeping and got addicted to painkillers. I'm now drug free."

Mr Gore said he had almost given up on pursuing his other legal options.

"The CFA is all good when things are going well but when things go bad, they say 'catch you later'," he said.

"I thought I would have recovered from my injuries in six weeks, but the big problem was the head injuries. In the end my business collapsed and I ended up with a huge amount of debt to repay.

"Volunteers are treated like disposal resources, they're referred to as condoms, tampons and Sorbent."

Mr Gore cautioned CFA volunteers to look after themselves and their own communities, and leave fighting fires in other parts of the state to the professional firefighters.

"I spent a lot of time flying to Gippsland for fires. The camaraderie of firefighters keeps you going. But, if you're injured it could be disastrous and have a massive impact," he said.

"For me it was life-changing," he said. 

A CFA spokesman said every time Mr Gore had come to the CFA he had received compensation in accordance with the relevant Act.

He said Mr Gore had never had the CFA reject one of his claims. 

The CFA said Mr Gore was injured in 2009 but had a pre-existing injury (which he says he fully recovered from after a minor car accident) and got compensation for the injury he received in the truck incident, but that's where the issue ended for the CFA.

“In accordance with the Country Fire Authority Act 1958 and the relevant CFA regulations in place at the time an incident occurred, CFA has an obligation to provide compensation to CFA volunteers injured in the course of service for the organisation if a claim is made subject to an assessment of the claim,” a spokesman said.

“All claims and requests for compensation by CFA volunteers are assessed individually based on their own merits.

“CFA is primarily self-insured with funding allocated from the annual budget to the Volunteer Compensation Scheme which provides compensation if a volunteer has been injured in the course of service for CFA.”