Hon Rob Horstman questions the Minister for Emergency Services regarding fire appliance usage during emergencies due to firefighter shortages. The Minister responds that no appliances were unused due to staff shortages in September and cites standard procedure for staffing levels.

AnsweredQoN 850Legislative Council
Asked
15 October 2025
Portfolio
Emergency Services

QuestionView source ↗

Fire and emergency services—Appliances
850. Hon Rob Horstman to
the minister representing the Minister for Emergency
Services:
I refer to concerns
raised by the United Professional Firefighters Union of Western Australia that
fire appliances are left parked in career stations during emergencies due to
shortages of firefighters.
(1) In September, on how
many occasions was a fire appliance unused in a call-out due to a shortage of
staff?
(2) What methodology does the department use to
determine the vehicle-to-personnel ratio to ensure the effective use of
appliances?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for some notice of the question.
The following answer has been provided to me by the Minister for Emergency
Services.
The Department of
Fire and Emergency Services advises:
(1) Nil. All call-outs were responded to by DFES.
(2) DFES uses standard administrative procedure 5.01,
maintaining career fire and rescue services shift staff levels.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more