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.[1] DFES is responsible for the management, training and funding of career and volunteer Services including:[2]
Career Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) 29 BGU's, 1,249 members
Bushfire Service (BFS) 551 BGU's, 20,227 members
State Emergency Service (SES) 64 BGU's, 1,929 members
Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services (VFES) 40 BGU's, 1,184 members
Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) 93 BGS's, 2,219 members
Marine Rescue Service 39 BGU's, 1,570 members
Public Service Officers and Technicians 658 members
DFES Currently employs 1,249 career firefighters and 600+ staff members as well as over 29,000 volunteers in the 6 services statewide.[3]
There is also 2,579 members in the Emergency services Cadets and Youth programs across 5 services[4]
History
The DFES 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:[5]
Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act 1998
Fire Brigades Act 1942
Bush Fires Act 1954
Emergency Services Levy Act 2002
Emergency Management Act 2005
In the July 2017 Western Australian machinery of government changes, the department remained unaffected.[6]
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.[7]
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.
Structure
DFES operates under the Emergency Services Minister of the Government of WA and is the Hazard Management Agency (HMA) for cyclones, floods, storms, tsunami, structural collapse, HAZMAT incidents, earthquakes and fire. Their operational branch comprises Metropolitan Operations, Country Operations and Operations Capability and oversees the following services:
The Career Fire and Rescue Service of Western Australia (FRS or CFRS) consists of 1,249 paid firefighters working from 25 metropolitan stations and 4 country stations. Career firefighters attend a 21 week training course held at the academy in Forrestfield. Working on a 2-2-4 roster of two 10 hour day shifts followed by two 14 hour night shifts and then 4 days off. Metropolitan stations operate with at least one urban pumper and light tanker, with a crew of 1 station officer and 3 firefighters. (Perth station does not run light tankers). Country stations operate with a crew of 1 station officer and 5 fire fighters.[8] Some metropolitan stations operate as relieving stations where 2 additional firefighters are on shift, these firefighters will fill short staffing at other stations if the need arises.
Appliance allocation is typically 1 urban pumper and 1 light tanker, with a 2nd pump located at Perth, Vincent, Daglish, Fremantle, Welshpool and Bunbury. Two CLP's are located at Perth and Fremantle stations. Two SET's are located at Murdoch and Osborne Park. Three permanent Urban Tankers are located at Joondalup, Malaga and Canning Vale. With additional Urban Tankers brought online at Ellenbrook, Hope Valley, Midland, Welshpool and Maddington, during the high threat period. The ICV is located at Belmont Station, the POD carrier is also located at Canning Vale
The Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) is a volunteer service predominantly attending motor vehicle accidents, structure fires and HAZMAT incidents outside of metropolitan areas. In 2024 the VFRS had 2,219 volunteer firefighters in 93 brigades across the state.[9][10]
The Bush Fire Service (BFS) is a volunteer service tasked with attending any fire outside of a gazetted fire district within a Brigade's Local Government area. They predominantly combat bushfires and conduct hazard reduction burning on a local level. As of 2024, there are 551 Bush Fire Brigades (BFBs) with 20,227 volunteers.[4]
The Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services (VFES) is also a volunteer service. It was established to combine the resources of any combination of a BFS Brigade, a VFRS Brigade, MR Group or an SES Unit to replace the Volunteer Fire Services (VFS) and Volunteer Emergency Service (VES) in 2016[11][4] It has just over 1,184 volunteers as of 2024.
The State Emergency Service (SES) is a volunteer service with the role of attending a vast array of natural disasters and search and rescue incidents. They attend land searches for missing people, storm damage, urban search and rescue (USAR), cliff rescue, road crash rescue, transporting personnel and equipment to fires as well as many other roles. The SES has a K9 unit with volunteer's dogs being trained in searching for missing people and a mounted unit for land searches. As of 2024 they had 1,020members and 64 units.
The Marine Rescue Service Western Australia (VMRS) is another volunteer service tasked with assisting the Western Australian Police with searches for missing people or vessels, assisting disabled vessels and rescues in water around the state. As of 204 there are 39 MRS Groups with 1,570 volunteers.[12][4]
In April 2018 a new Rural Fire Division was announced after the findings of the 2016 Waroona Bushfire Special Inquiry. It will be another branch under the DFES structure and will consist of:[13]
Bushfire Centre of Excellence (training and research into Bushfire mitigation)[14]
Bushfire Mitigation Branch
Bushfire Technical Services
Land Use Planning
Office of Bushfire Risk Management
Ranks and insignia
DFES
Title
Epaulette
Helmet
Commissioner
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background
below a crown.
Black
2 x white stripes on both sides
Deputy Commissioner
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background
below 3 pips
Black
1 x white stripe on both sides
Assistant Commissioner
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background
below 2 pips
Black
Chief Superintendent
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background
below 1 pip
Silver
1 x white stripe on both sides
Superintendent
Crossed staffs in gold wreath with red background
Silver
District Officer (Urban & Rural Fire)
3 blue impellors
Blue
1 x white stripe
District Officer (Natural Hazzards)
3 gold pips
Blue
1 x whte stripe
Area Officer
2 blue impellors below a band
Blue
Community Emergency Services
Manager (CESM)
2 gold pips, local government name printed below
Lime green
1 x white stripe on both sides
Career Fire & Rescue
Station Officer (SO)
2 blue impellors
Red
2 x blue impellors on both sides
Leading Firefighter
3 yellow chevrons below 2 crossed red axes
Yellow
3 x yellow chevrons on both sides
Senior Firefighter - 15 years (SFF-15)
3 x chevrons ( 2 x yellow above 1 x red) below
2 crossed red axes
Yellow
3 x chevrons ( 2 x yellow above 1 x red)
on both sides
Vehicles are named based on their water capacity, drive type (2x4/4x4) and role. For example: 1.4R meaning approximately 1000L, 4x4 and designed for a rural environment.
