Frankston truck sent to fire in Moolap, UFU claims

VICTORIAN firefighters say a fire in Moolap needing a response from the other side of Port Phillip Bay underscores its argument for new fire trucks.

In a video posted on the United Firefighters Union’s (UFU) Victorian branch Facebook page last week, a UFU member said a ladder truck was sent out in response to a mulch fire in Moolap over the previous weekend but equipment on this truck failed while fighting the fire from above.

When firefighters asked for a replacement truck, the UFU claimed the closest available vehicle was 130km away in Frankston and took more than two hours to arrive.

The video claims a teleboom truck could have come from the Corio station 13km away had it not been decommissioned eight years ago, and a similar truck could not come from the Sunshine fire station 80km away as that vehicle was decommissioned two weeks ago.

The UFU says three of the four teleboom trucks located in central Melbourne were also unavailable to respond at the time as they were being repaired.

“The truck crisis in FRV [Fire Rescue Victoria] is getting worse,” the UFU member said in the video.

“The trucks are failing more often and they’re failing at fires.”

He asked people to contact their local state member to ask where money raised by the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund was going “because it’s not going to the fire service”.

The UFU has been campaigning for months, including in the Borough of Queenscliffe at the weekend, against the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund and for better fire trucks.

UFU Victorian secretary Peter Marshall said the state Labor government’s $365 million firefighting package last month was a small percentage of the more than $5.4 billion expected to be raised through the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund.

“This is about political expediency in an election cycle, not fixing a system that firefighters have been warning is under strain for years,” he said.

“Sixty-five per cent of the professional firefighting fleet is already past its service life.

“Firefighters are turning out every day in trucks that should have been replaced years ago, and this announcement will not scratch the surface of what is actually required.”

The Emergency Services Volunteer Fund replaced the fire services property levy on 1 July 2025.

The fund is intended to pay for emergency service response across the state.

Labor says it continues to invest in record levels in fire services.

“We have the best funded fire services and the fastest response times in the country – we continue to deliver record investment to back firefighters and keep Victorians safe,” a Victorian government spokesperson said.

FRV had not responded to questions as this newspaper went to press.