Firefighters need your support to ensure the Marshall Government provides adequate funding to the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service so we can do our job of protecting life and property in South Australia in a safe manner.

Our union, the United Firefighters Union of SA, has publicly appealed to the Marshall Government to provide appropriate resourcing to the MFS in order to ensure adequate appliances, equipment, support and training so firefighters can continue to protect our community in a safe and professional manner.

There are currently:

• Many MFS appliances ageing, breaking down and well past their use-by dates
• Not enough (or any) spare appliances available when needed
• Burn over protection systems (BOPS) installed on less than half of MFS appliances
• Recalls of those BOPS which were fitted as they have faulty not fit for purpose systems installed
• No asset plans for replacement which means the problems are being compounded rapidly
• Skeleton staff in the MFS Engineering Department which is sorely under resourced
• Ageing vehicles further stretching the capacity of the MFS Engineering Department
• Training needs are not met due to inadequate funding for training
• Firefighters deployed to blazes without essential equipment or support
• Regional Firefighters treated as the “poor cousins” getting the older trucks and equipment

Firefighters are committed to protecting the community, so it is absolutely vital that firefighters are protected as we perform our precarious work. We often work in extremely stressful situations in shocking conditions with an old fleet of vehicles, a lack of appropriate equipment and no burn over protection systems.

The situation is critical, and we cannot stand by, absorbing the impact and knowing it’s getting worse.

The Marshall Government is simply NOT listening, and their ignorance and disrespect for firefighters is putting the lives of both firefighters who work tirelessly to protect our community, and members of our community, in very real and grave danger.

Please sign the petition and tell the Marshall Government that firefighters have your support and need to be appropriately resourced to do their job of protecting life and property!

Thank you.