❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice from 2001 regarding the capacity of CALM's Fire Unit in the South-West forests, including staffing, equipment, and budget for prescribed burning. The response indicates staffing levels are adequate, heavy plant is hired as needed, and prescribed burning budgets have seen minor reductions.
AnsweredQoN 296Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Further to question 345 in the Legislative Council to the Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -
(1) As the Government is very aware of the very high litter loads in the South-West forests, what has been done to expand the capacity of CALM’s Fire Unit?
(2) What extra finance has been provided?
(3) How many -
(a) trained;
(b) accredited; and
(c) other firefighters,
under the age of 40 can the Department put into the field and in what areas?
(4) At what notice can the Department put them into the field?
(5) With the reduced cutting activity in the forests, what heavy plant such a graders, bulldozers (which have in the past been provided by the contractors) have been provided to the CALM Fire Unit and at what cost?
(6) What extra budget provisions have been made for prescribed burning?
(1) As the Government is very aware of the very high litter loads in the South-West forests, what has been done to expand the capacity of CALM’s Fire Unit?
(2) What extra finance has been provided?
(3) How many -
(a) trained;
(b) accredited; and
(c) other firefighters,
under the age of 40 can the Department put into the field and in what areas?
(4) At what notice can the Department put them into the field?
(5) With the reduced cutting activity in the forests, what heavy plant such a graders, bulldozers (which have in the past been provided by the contractors) have been provided to the CALM Fire Unit and at what cost?
(6) What extra budget provisions have been made for prescribed burning?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
28 November 2001
Responded by
Minister for Housing and Works representing the Minister for the Environment and Heritage
Response time
22 days
(b) accredited; and (c) other firefighters, under the age of 40 can the Department put into the field and in what areas?
(c) other firefighters, under the age of 40 can the Department put into the field and in what areas?
under the age of 40 can the Department put into the field and in what areas?
The Fire Model requires a total of 220 trained, fit and accredited fire fighters located in nine response cells in the south-west. The Department has 160 permanent trained, fit, accredited fire fighters in south-west regions. Another 80 seasonal fire fighters are employed to assist with fire protection works. This gives a total of 240 fit, trained, accredited fire fighters. The 20 additional fire fighters (above the Fire Model) are employed with a priority to maximise availability of crews for prescribed burning programs to take advantage of suitable conditions. There is no age criterion for accreditation as a fire fighter but there is a specified fitness requirement. The notice for deployment to a wildfire depends on the forecast daily fire hazard. Crews are placed on standby in accordance with the actual fire hazard. (5) It has not been necessary to date for the Department to acquire additional heavy plant because of the reduced activity in the forest by timber industry contractors. There are sufficient contract machines available for hire to meet normal requirements for fire suppression. (6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
There is no age criterion for accreditation as a fire fighter but there is a specified fitness requirement. The notice for deployment to a wildfire depends on the forecast daily fire hazard. Crews are placed on standby in accordance with the actual fire hazard. (5) It has not been necessary to date for the Department to acquire additional heavy plant because of the reduced activity in the forest by timber industry contractors. There are sufficient contract machines available for hire to meet normal requirements for fire suppression. (6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
(5) It has not been necessary to date for the Department to acquire additional heavy plant because of the reduced activity in the forest by timber industry contractors. There are sufficient contract machines available for hire to meet normal requirements for fire suppression. (6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
(6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
(c) other firefighters, under the age of 40 can the Department put into the field and in what areas?
under the age of 40 can the Department put into the field and in what areas?
The Fire Model requires a total of 220 trained, fit and accredited fire fighters located in nine response cells in the south-west. The Department has 160 permanent trained, fit, accredited fire fighters in south-west regions. Another 80 seasonal fire fighters are employed to assist with fire protection works. This gives a total of 240 fit, trained, accredited fire fighters. The 20 additional fire fighters (above the Fire Model) are employed with a priority to maximise availability of crews for prescribed burning programs to take advantage of suitable conditions. There is no age criterion for accreditation as a fire fighter but there is a specified fitness requirement. The notice for deployment to a wildfire depends on the forecast daily fire hazard. Crews are placed on standby in accordance with the actual fire hazard. (5) It has not been necessary to date for the Department to acquire additional heavy plant because of the reduced activity in the forest by timber industry contractors. There are sufficient contract machines available for hire to meet normal requirements for fire suppression. (6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
There is no age criterion for accreditation as a fire fighter but there is a specified fitness requirement. The notice for deployment to a wildfire depends on the forecast daily fire hazard. Crews are placed on standby in accordance with the actual fire hazard. (5) It has not been necessary to date for the Department to acquire additional heavy plant because of the reduced activity in the forest by timber industry contractors. There are sufficient contract machines available for hire to meet normal requirements for fire suppression. (6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
(5) It has not been necessary to date for the Department to acquire additional heavy plant because of the reduced activity in the forest by timber industry contractors. There are sufficient contract machines available for hire to meet normal requirements for fire suppression. (6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
(6) There have been some minor reductions in the prescribed burning budgets in 2001/02 for each of the Department's Outputs. Due to the particularly dry winter in 2001 the window of opportunity for prescribed burning has been narrowed and the budget cuts have been irrelevant. Importantly, however, the Fire Model has been maintained enabling the Department's wildfire response capability to be retained.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.