Warrnambool and Portland residents are being short-changed by Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), which is putting lives at risk, according to David Black.
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The Warrnambool senior station officer and United Firefighters Union member said both cities were put in a precarious situation during a fire.
Warrnambool has two appliances and enough firefighters to meet the international "seven on the fire ground" safety standard, Mr Black said.
However, Portland only has staff for one crew - which only provides "four on the fire ground".
When there is a fire at Portland, a Warrnambool appliance has to respond.
"In areas like Portland we're unable to meet the safety standard because we don't have the appliances and we don't have the staff - so no truck, no crew," Mr Black said.
"If Portland gets a structure fire today with a complexity - persons reported or similar - there will be a truck dispatched from Warrnambool to go and support the truck over there and create that seven on the fire ground."
However, he said this put firefighters and people affected by the fire at risk.
"Everyone knows the travel time between Warrnambool and Portland is one hour and 20 minutes," Mr Black said.
"If it takes you one hour and 20 minutes to get to a house fire, you're not not talking about saving lives, you're not talking about saving the structure - what you're talking about is being there for the tail end of the fire."
Mr Black said fire brigades across the state were calling for additional funds to replace ageing appliances and fund additional firefighter roles at cities including Portland.
"The people in and around the city of Portland need to understand that they're getting a lesser service because of the lack of funding given to them by the state government and Fire Rescue Victoria," Mr Black said.
"And then the people of Warrnambool need to understand that any time there is a fire in Portland, their coverage drops.
"It's not overly common but it does happen where you have double header fires."
Mr Black said there was clear evidence Portland needed two active appliances.
"The area of Portland has had two of the most expensive fires in terms of monetary value in the last 20 years - so the risk is there," he said.
Mr Black said these included a tar pit fire, which took days to extinguish and a fire on a livestock carrier.
"Portland has a major harbour and a major transport route, which includes not only freight but logging as well."
Mr Black said there had already been an example of how crucial it was for Warrnambool to have two appliances available at all times.
"On St Patrick's Day, Warrnambool was without a truck for in excess of five hours," he said.
"We didn't have a pumper here in town to protect from structure fires.
"Both appliances were committed - one was at Terang and the other one was at Illowa."
On those occasions, the brigade has to rely on volunteers from the Country Fire Authority.
However, on that night, it would have been a challenge to find volunteers who were not already responding to blazes, Mr Black said.
"On that evening all the volunteer trucks were committed as well," he said.
Mr Black's comments come after fears of a looming catastrophic fire season.
Fire Rescue Victoria unit commander Adam Young said the Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook predicted higher-than-average temperatures and drier seasonal conditions ahead of the 2023-24 bushfire season.
"There are particular concerns around the western district, which encompasses Warrnambool and surrounds," he said.
He said three years of higher than average rainfall had provided ideal growing conditions for vegetation, which was expected to dry out as rain fall eased over the coming months.
"Once that dries out we have what we call a higher fuel load, which can lead to faster moving and more intense fires," Mr Young said.
FRV commissioner Gavin Freeman said the safety of Victorian communities and firefighters was critical.
"That's why Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) has a rigorous fleet maintenance program to ensure our firefighting trucks and other life-saving appliances are safe and always ready," Mr Freeman said.
"The replacement and modernisation of firefighting equipment is a constant exercise. We now have 22 new trucks and support vehicles in the build stage.
"These are a combination of replacement and growth assets to bolster different key capabilities within the fire service, including heavy pumpers, rescue vehicles, breathing apparatus support and rehabilitation units."
Mr Freeman said FRV's fleet was largely for urban firefighting and does not go off-road.
"The Country Fire Authority and Forest Fire Management Victoria have specialist equipment for off-road and aerial firefighting to respond to bushfires," he said.
'During these events, FRV supports our fire service partners by deploying resources to protect buildings and infrastructure, supplement firefighting personnel and provide incident management capability."
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