By Oliver Lees
The Sunbury fire service is below the average response time in metropolitan Melbourne, according to new data.
The state government data, released last week, showed a quarter of emergency incidents attended by Sunbury fire crews in the June quarter were outside the recommended response times.
Standard response times for Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) for all emergency incidents across the state is 7.7 minutes.
The Sunbury crews responded to 90 per cent of emergency calls just within 10 minutes.
The crews attended 87 incidents in the September quarter – 79 were emergency situations.
Throughout the reporting period, FRV also implemented additional safety precautions due to COVID-19.
FRV commissioner Ken Block said despite not meeting the target in the area, overall, FRV had performed strongly.
“FRV’s primary goal is to enhance the services we deliver to the community as we continue on our journey and work with key stakeholders to identify, investigate and implement measures that will increase and strengthen our emergency response capabilities,” he said.
“FRV is working with the Fire Services Implementation Monitor to ensure we meet existing and future demand and keep Victorians and our firefighters safe.”
According to the Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook, the heavy winter and spring rains are expected to make fast running grassfires a pressing concern.
Coming into the fire season, Commissioner Block said it was imperative all landowners prepared for the benefit of themselves and emergency services.
“It’s not just people who live in rural areas that need to be aware of their risk of grassfires this summer – if you live on the urban fringe you could also be at risk,” he said.
“If you live on the urban fringe next to grasslands and a fire breaks out, walk two streets back into the built-up areas and wait for emergency services to arrive.
“If you live more than two streets away from grassfires, stay indoors with the windowsills and doors blocked by towels and turn off your air-conditioning.”
