Members of the Caramut CFA fire brigade are owed an apology by Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville, according to Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell and opposition leader Michael O'Brien.
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A group of 15 volunteers sacrificed their time to conduct roadside burns near Caramut on Tuesday.
However, when they arrived to complete the job they were not allowed to proceed because they did not have four CFA tankers.
Instead, they had one CFA tanker and a number of private tankers, which they had used to fight fires for many years without incident.
Ms Britnell said she was appalled with how the volunteers had been treated.
"These are people who have over 200 years experience as firefighters," she said.
She said they had taken time off work and had been threatened with police action if they completed the planned burn.
"I've been inundated with calls from all sorts of CFA volunteers," Ms Britnell said.
"The volunteers are not just from Caramut, but other brigades and they're seething."
Ms Britnell said she couldn't understand why the volunteers had been prevented from what they had been doing for many years to protect their community.
She said if the government was adamant the brigade needed four accredited tankers for roadside burns, it should gift them with extra trucks.
Mr O'Brien said he believed the way they were treated was outrageous.
"To have someone basically threaten them with police action for trying to keep their own community safe is disgraceful," he said.
CFA operations manager Richard Bourke told The Standard the brigade had not met requirements set out in the fire plan it was provided.
He said the rule had been in place for five or six years and was brought in to protect communities.
A state government spokeswoman said all emergency management volunteers were "vital to community safety".
"Planned burns, including roadside operations, must be conducted in a way that is safe for volunteers and the community, including having the requisite number of CFA appliances on scene in case a burn escapes," she said.
"All our emergency service agencies - staff and volunteer - are based on command structures. This means volunteers and staff follow specific requirements - including protections around planned burns, community education and fighting fires - to ensure both their safety and the safety of the community."
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