Department of Fire and Emergency Services

Old Perth Fire Station, the first in WA; now a museum

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a government department that is responsible for fire and emergency services in Western Australia. The department came into being in 2012 as a result of the Perth Hills Bush Fire review.^[1]

History

It was formerly known as the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (FESA), a statutory government authority created in January 1999 to administer the following legislation within the state of Western Australia:^[2]

• Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act 1998
• Fire Brigades Act 1942
• Bush Fires Act 1954
• Emergency Services Levy Act 2002
• Emergency Management Act 2005

This is effected through the management of the following services:

• The Fire and Rescue Service
• The Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service
• The Bush Fire Service
• The State Emergency Service
• Volunteer Marine Rescue Services
• Emergency Management Services
• Community Safety Services

Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia

The inaugural meeting of the Fire Brigades' Board was held on 16 January 1899. This later led to the establishment of the Western Australian Fire Brigades' Board in 1909. WA Fire Brigades updated their name in 1995 to the Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia, to more accurately reflect the service provided to the communities of Western Australia.^[3]

In 1999, with the creation of FESA, brought together the Fire and Rescue Service, and the Bush Fire Service to form the Fire Services Division of FESA. The Fire and Rescue Service and Bush Fire Service actively maintain their original identities.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services was established in 2012 and replaced FESA. The first Fire and Emergency Commissioner Wayne Gregson was appointed. Wayne Gregson is a former WA Police Assistant Commissioner. A new state of the art headquarters is located at Stockton Bend, Cockburn Central. This building includes the state and metropolitan operations centres, statewide communications centre, operations/capability commands and corporate services.

The Career Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia consists of in excess of 850 paid firefighters^[3] working from 23 metropolitan stations and 4 country stations.^[4] Number one fire station is located on Murray Street, Perth.

The Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service was created on 20 October 1885. In 2015 the volunteer services had 2,458 volunteer firefighters in over 93 brigades across the state.^[5][6]

The Bush Fire Service contains 580 Bush Fire Brigades with 21,946 volunteers.^[7]

The Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services (VFES) maintains VFES Brigades which are established by combining the resources of a Bush Fire Service (BFS) Brigade and a Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) Brigade.^[8]

Stations

Metropolitan Career fire stations

Murdoch fire station, Perth, Western Australia.

Country Career fire stations

Geraldton Kalgoorlie Albany Bunbury Vehicles and equipment The Department maintains and coordinates a range of specialist equipment and emergency response vehicles. This includes pumpers and tankers, skylifts, aerial ladders and other equipment relating to operations involving search and rescue, firefighting, disaster, or reduction of the impact of these events. Fighting a fire in Forrestdale Helitac 669 (AS350B3 Squirrel) operating during the fires in Perth, 4 February 2007 CHC Bell 412EP helicopter Medium pumper Bronto skylift Toodyay fire January 2010, helitanker at Toodyay Oval FESA Light tanker - Waroona FESA Ford support truck MIS10 FESA Hino 2.4 rural tanker - Middle Ward See also Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia. References ↑ "Commissioner's Foreword". Department of Fire and Emergency Services Inaugural Report 2012/13 (PDF). p. 4.  ↑ "DFES - Department of Fire and Emergency Services". dfes.wa.gov.au.  1 2 A Centenary of Service, The Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia, 1999 ↑ History - Fire and Rescue Service, Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (2006) ↑ Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service ↑ "WA Volunteer Fire & Rescue Services Association" (PDF). WA Volunteer Fire & Rescue Services Association.  ↑ "Bush Fire Service" (PDF). dfes.wa.gov.au.  ↑ "Volunteer Fire Services". dfes.wa.gov.au.  Fire services in Australia Victoria Metropolitan Fire Brigade Country Fire Authority List of CFA brigades Country Fire Authority appliances CFA Training College, Fiskville New South Wales New South Wales Rural Fire Service List of NSWRFS brigades NSWRFS Section 44 Fire and Rescue NSW South Australia Country Fire Service CFS Appliances List of SA CFS groups and brigades Emergency Fire Service (Historical) SA Metropolitan Fire Service Queensland Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Australian Capital Territory ACT Fire and Rescue Australian Capital Territory Rural Fire Service Other states Tasmania Fire Service Department of Fire and Emergency Services Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service National organisations Australasian Fire Authorities Council Other organisations Community Fire Units Government departments of Western Australia Departments Agriculture and Food Attorney General Child Protection Commerce Communities Corrective Services Culture and the Arts Education Education Services Department of Environment Regulation Department of Parks and Wildlife Department of Fire and Emergency Services Fisheries Health Housing Indigenous Affairs Local Government Mines and Petroleum Planning Premier and Cabinet Racing, Gaming and Liquor Regional Development and Lands Sport and Recreation State Development Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission Training and Workforce Development Transport Treasury and Finance Water Statutory agencies Landgate Worksafe (Western Australia) List of Western Australian government agencies