Submitted by daniel on Tue, 20/01/2026 - 19:56 Picture Image Description CFA Westmere group volunteers Mark Gubbins, David Blackburn and Lyndon Varney at the Streatham Fire Station. Picture by Petra Oates Members of Victoria's largest CFA group have spoken out about the detrimental impact the state government has had on this bushfire season. Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news across the nation or signup to continue reading All articles from our website & app The digital version of This Week's Paper Our entire network Westmere district deputy group officer Mark Gubbins, Chatsworth, was one of the volunteers fighting the devastating Streatham and Skipton fire earlier this month. Mr Gubbins said bureaucratic road blocks and ageing equipment has hampered the firefighting effort. He said while the community and volunteers all showed up when faced with the crisis, the morale of the CFA remained critically low. "The morale of the CFA since [former premier Dan] Andrews came into power has plummeted," he said. "We've lost thousands and thousands of volunteers across Victoria. "When you get a crisis like this, people come out of the woodwork and help but we have lost a lot of trained volunteers and that's purely because of the way they have been treated." He said the top-down bureaucracy stemming from the state government had stunted local brigades. "The Westmere group used to train 40-50 and up to 90 volunteers before COVID-19," he said. "We struggle to get half a dozen through now. "For young people to sign up, they have to jump through all these hoops and it gets so hard that they stop. "We're getting old and broken down and we can't do this forever. "In 10 years' time, who's going to fight the fires? "We'll all be too old." Mr Gubbins said local volunteers knew what needed to be done and when and how to do it, but higher powers were imposed on their efficiency. He said an excavator that turned up in Streatham on Saturday morning after the fire to bury livestock took six hours to break ground. "He got here at 7am and he wasn't allowed to do anything because of people higher up the chain until 1pm," he said. "The locals are trying to destroy sheep for farmers who are mentally affected, and the sheep are in pain, and they have nowhere to put them. "It is so frustrating when you're on a fire ground and you just can't get shit done." Pictures by Petra Oates The Westmere group is the largest CFA group in Victoria, comprising 18 brigades and about 1000 volunteers. It is also one of the most independent and self-sufficient volunteer groups in the state. CFA Lake Bolac captain Lyndon Varney said the independence the group had fought to maintain was crucial in fighting the bushfires. "It could have been a lot worse," he said. "The fire was extreme but I think our response was as good as it could have been. "If you look at the conditions we were working with, it's a wonder it didn't go a lot further." It is estimated well over 100 private and CFA units responded to fires in the western district on the Friday. "We have our own communications so we don't have to rely on the whole fire communication system like they wanted us to do 15 years ago," Mr Varney said. "We decide strategically which tankers we're going to send to a fire so we don't tire our group out. "We've got this army of 400 private tankers too which can respond immediately to a call out and go directly to a fire." CFA Mininera captain Rob Coutts, said it took him just 15 minutes to get to the fire at Streatham with his private tanker. "We have to be this independent because fires like this happen and we have to be able to respond immediately," Mr Coutts said. He said the fire was one of the more intense he had seen in his decades of volunteering. "I fought the Grampians fire last year when it came out of the bush and this was scarier," he said. "Inside the fire area they measured 100-kilometre winds. "I was driving down the road at 50km an hour and the fire was keeping pace with me." Mr Varney said at one point he witnessed the fire cross the road with five-metre-high flames. "They're the biggest flames I've ever seen cross a road in open country - they were higher than the powerlines," he said. Westmere district group officer Pat Millear said everyone was concerned about the safety risks associated with old equipment. "The old tankers are becoming an occupational health and safety issue now," Mr Millear said. "There's no air conditioning for those in the cabin and no respite from the heat at all. "The new tankers can also be operated from inside the cab, whereas the old tankers you have to stand on the back of them in the elements." He said of the 20 fire trucks operating in the Westmere group, only three were new. "We've got three [new] ultra-heavy 10,000-litre tankers now which are state of the art," he said. "We need at least half of them to be replaced to be fighting fires like the ones we just had." CFA releases its annual report despite 'conspiracy theories' The CFA's 2024-25 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, following criticism from the Opposition that it had taken too long to come out. Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward said the report showed funding to the CFA had increased by nearly $22 million on the previous year and the CFA's asset base grew by about $106 million. In the report, CFA chief executive Greg Leach commented on the backlash to the new Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF). "[The] government's introduction of the ESVF has been a point of contention for many of our people this year," Mr Leach said. "CFA provided advice and advocated, where appropriate, on behalf of volunteers to seek improvements to the ESVF, ensuring that our members are recognised for the work that they do." A statement from the CFA board last week also disputed claims "that funding to CFA has been cut and our volunteers and brigades are not prepared for the current fire season". "The CFA budget has in fact increased year-on-year since the Fire Services Reform in 2020, including an additional $20.3 million this financial year," the statement read. "To support our frontline volunteers, we continue to prioritise investment in new and replacement fire stations, fire trucks and protective equipment, whilst continuing to advocate and work with government to secure more investment in fleet and equipment. "Right now, the work continues to stand by our volunteers and staff, and with those communities that are affected." Daily Daily Headlines Today's top stories curated by our news team. 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