Melton firefighters are sticking together despite the bitter CFA row engulfing the state government and the “media hype” surrounding it.
Volunteer and paid firefighters in the Melton brigade say they won’t be distracted, while the “period of unrest” has united the brigade, according to operations officer Jayson Hirt.
“The current media coverage is not beneficial to anyone in our brigade or the community,” he said. “It has been blown out of proportion and doesn’t reflect the real situation.
“It gives me pride to say that the membership at Melton has not been distracted by the current media hype … it has, in many ways, united our brigade.”
The bitter CFA dispute has intensified in recent weeks, with the resignation of Jane Garrett as emergency services minister and the sacking of the CFA board.
Last Friday, chief executive Lucinda Nolan resigned and a new board was appointed by the state government.
The board appointed health sector executive Frances Diver as its chief executive. Ms Diver, who worked for more than a decade in what is now the Department of Health and Human Services, takes up her new role on June 27.
Chief fire officer Joe Buffone will act as CFA chief executive until then.
“The relationship between our volunteer and career firefighters has never wavered,” Mr Hirt said.
“I take great pride in how strongly united our volunteer and career firefighters have remained throughout this.
“Melton residents should also take comfort in knowing that our team continues to deliver a great fire service to the community.”
The Melton station is manned by a mix of paid and volunteer firefighters, with at least five paid firefighters on shift at any time and about 80 volunteers who carry pagers and respond when available.
The head of volunteer firefighters at the station, 5th lieutenant Simon Vamplew, says he’s “frustrated” and “disappointed” with being “used” as a political football and getting caught up in a media frenzy. “As soon as [the dispute] came out in the media, we sat with our staff and asked what’s going on?” Mr Vamplew says. “And they were really good. They got the EBA [enterprise bargaining agreement], they answered every question and they were open and honest.”
