Department of Fire and Emergency Services
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2012 |
| Superseding agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | Government of Western Australia |
| Agency executive |
|
| Child agency | |
| Website | www.dfes.wa.gov.au |
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.
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:
This is effected through the management of the following services:
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.
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 working from 23 metropolitan stations and 4 country stations. 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.
The Bush Fire Service contains 580 Bush Fire Brigades with 21,946 volunteers.
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.
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.
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