❓ WA Parliamentary Question on Notice regarding the preparedness of volunteer fire services for incidents involving solar farms and battery energy storage systems (BESS), including equipment, training, and response times. The response provides data on breathing apparatus, multi-gas monitors, HAZMAT escalation pathways, response times, and training delivered.
AnsweredQoN 725Legislative Assembly
Asked
9 September 2025
Member
Portfolio
Emergency Services; Corrective Services; Defence Industries; Veterans; Racing and Gaming
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades (BFB) and Volunteer Fire & Rescue Service (VFRS), and I ask: (a) what proportion of volunteer appliances are equipped with breathing apparatus sets suitable for structural/industrial incidents; (b) which volunteer units routinely carry multi-gas monitors and which have hydrogen-fluoride (HF) detection capability; (c) what is the Department of Fire and Emergency Services escalation pathway to deploy career HAZMAT crews and ChemCentre support to a solar-farm/battery energy storage systems (BESS) incident; (d) what is the median response time for specialist HAZMAT to regional utility-scale solar farm sites by region; and (e) what training specific to utility-scale solar farms/BESS has been delivered to volunteers since 2021 (numbers trained, modules, locations)?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 October 2025
Responded by
Minister for Emergency Services; Corrective Services; Defence Industries; Veterans; Racing and Gaming
Response time
6 days
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) advises:
(a) All Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) brigades have Breathing Apparatus (BA) sets.
Local Governments are responsible for managing Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades (VBFB), as well as the provision and maintenance of equipment and training.
(b) The following VFRS brigades have access to multi-gas monitors:
· Exmouth;
· Esperance;
· Carnarvon;
· Kununurra; and
· Karratha.
No volunteer appliances have hydrogen-fluoride (HF) detection capability.
(c) Should a solar farm or BESS incident be confirmed the incident is escalated to the DFES 24 hour on-call Hazmat Special Operations Advisor, who coordinates specialist technical advice and resources internal and external to DFES.
d)
HAZMAT Response Times Median Values by Emergency Services Levy (ESL) Category Areas (in minutes)
Financial Year
ESL 1
ESL 2
ESL 3
ESL 4
ESL 5
2024/25
9.48
10.33
14.55
17.82
33.77
2023/24
8.99
8.83
15.48
19.57
28.45
2022/23
9.33
8.09
15.48
16.49
32.58
2021/22
8.91
9.23
14.3
14.92
28.86
2020/21
8.95
8.35
14.2
16.15
30.18
5 Year Median*
9.1
8.72
15.12
17.42
30.4
e) DFES has recently published two online courses on the eAcademy, Extinguishing Lithium-Ion Batteries - A Comprehensive Guide (September 2025) and Response to Electric Vehicle Incident - Foundation Training (Online- July 2025). A total of 1,022 personnel have completed this training.
(a) All Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) brigades have Breathing Apparatus (BA) sets.
Local Governments are responsible for managing Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades (VBFB), as well as the provision and maintenance of equipment and training.
(b) The following VFRS brigades have access to multi-gas monitors:
· Exmouth;
· Esperance;
· Carnarvon;
· Kununurra; and
· Karratha.
No volunteer appliances have hydrogen-fluoride (HF) detection capability.
(c) Should a solar farm or BESS incident be confirmed the incident is escalated to the DFES 24 hour on-call Hazmat Special Operations Advisor, who coordinates specialist technical advice and resources internal and external to DFES.
d)
HAZMAT Response Times Median Values by Emergency Services Levy (ESL) Category Areas (in minutes)
Financial Year
ESL 1
ESL 2
ESL 3
ESL 4
ESL 5
2024/25
9.48
10.33
14.55
17.82
33.77
2023/24
8.99
8.83
15.48
19.57
28.45
2022/23
9.33
8.09
15.48
16.49
32.58
2021/22
8.91
9.23
14.3
14.92
28.86
2020/21
8.95
8.35
14.2
16.15
30.18
5 Year Median*
9.1
8.72
15.12
17.42
30.4
e) DFES has recently published two online courses on the eAcademy, Extinguishing Lithium-Ion Batteries - A Comprehensive Guide (September 2025) and Response to Electric Vehicle Incident - Foundation Training (Online- July 2025). A total of 1,022 personnel have completed this training.
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