'Fix the fires or we will'

It comes at a time when the so-called Ferguson inquiry into the Waroona-Yarloop fire in January and the Esperance fire in November is being finalised.

Headed by Victorian Country Fire Authority chief Euan Ferguson, it is due to be handed to Premier Colin Barnett within weeks.

But a sceptical Association of Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades of WA (AVBFB) considers the inquiry will be put in the proverbial too-hard basket and not address the association's fundamental concern of an empowered Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) bureaucracy.

Farm Weekly also has been told by several farmers that the next major fire will be handled by volunteers.

In the words of one farmer: "We'll just put the bugger (fire) out and bugger DFES".

AVBFB president David Gossage said a meeting of the State's council at the weekend re-affirmed its intention to push for a new fire agency independent of DFES.

"I can tell you from the trips we've done in recent months, there are stronger (views) more than ever with the fires we've had this year," he said.

"There needs to be clear separation from the city and country organisations.

"It is clear from the feedback we get from members that there is a real, perceived cultural divide between the volunteer rural bushfire brigades and DFES," he said.

"Since the Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act 1998 and the Emergency Management Act 2005, there has been a shift of responsibility.

"DFES has been given elements of responsibility removing more local control and disempowering the communities they are meant to support.

"There has been a noticeable shift in behaviours from 'liaison' to 'co-ordination', to what we have today which is 'command and control'.

"It's a top-down approach which is in conflict with the sustainable volunteerism culture needed to build community resilience.

"In effect we have a bureaucracy which we don't elect, dictating to us and to politicians whom we do elect.

"The simple fact is about 25,000 volunteer bushfire fighters are organised into about 750 brigades in WA.

"A total of 97 per cent of all registered firefighters in WA are volunteers.''

Volunteer bushfire fighters are more than 10 times larger, in number, than any other emergency services group, and greatly outnumber about 1000 DFES career firefighters and 90 brigades.

"And those career firefighters are not adequately trained to handle bushfires.

"What is happening with the call (by WA Fire Commissioner Wayne Gregson) that volunteer bushfire brigades be taken over by DFES, is the disempowering of communities at a time when they should be resilient to maintain an effective bulwark against bushfires."

MLC and Liberal backbencher Nigel Hallett said he supported the AVBFB.

"I have to wait until the Ferguson inquiry is released but that won't be the end of the matter," Mr Hallett said.

"We (other colleagues) won't accept anything less than a full resolution that identifies the role of volunteer brigades.

"There is no doubt the Esperance and Waroona-Yarloop fires could have been better managed and it is time to remove the countless layers of red tape strangling the fire-fighting service in this State.

"There is an urgent need for the State Government to create a separate country fire service to manage emergencies directed by a board made up of Department of Parks and Wildlife, Association of Volunteer Fire Fighters and the WA Local Government Association.

"The local brigades can secure their towns by working with local government, not having to go through ridiculous permit systems (to access crown land)."

Mr Gregson has declined to comment until the Ferguson inquiry is tabled in parliament.

And Emergency Services Minister Joe Francis has not been willing to weigh in on the discussion.

"I am not going to run commentary on everyone's input into the Ferguson inquiry," he told Farm Weekly.

"I'll let him do his inquiry and make his recommendations and I will have a look at it when I get that."

Mr Gossage said the intent of the then FESA (Fire and Emergency Services Association) model was that the agencies and bush fire brigades would be preserved because of the clear difference between the city and rural needs.

"This has not been honoured, to the point where training pathways are designed to suit the career path of the paid staff," he said.