It's not all about firefighting for CFA - its firefighters responded to almost 5000 motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in the past year.
To mark National Road Safety Week (6-12 May), CFA released figures showing that in the 12 months to April 30 2019, CFA responded to 4918 accidents.
CFA Acting Chief Officer Gavin Freeman said that equated to about half the amount of fires CFA responded too, which showed the vital role its volunteer and career firefighters play in different types of emergencies.
"Already this year in Victoria we've seen 115 lives lost on our roads. Not only is that 115 too many - it's more than double the lives lost in the same time last year," he said.
"Many of these accidents could have been avoided. Driver fatigue, speed and distractions are often cause accidents — these are all preventable."
"Losing loved ones on our roads affects everyone, family, friends but also our first responders who include our CFA staff and volunteers. Road safety is every Victorians responsibility, especially if we are to work towards zero lives lost on our roads."
CFA's support of National Road Safety Week includes initiatives such as turning its Ballarat Fire Station Tower yellow to help 'Shine a Light on Road Safety'.
But Acting Chief Officer Freeman said road safety was always on the mind of CFA members.
"We are no longer just a firefighting authority. We provide emergency medical response, we respond to HAZMAT and we respond to motor vehicle collisions," he said. "We're always working on initiatives to improve our response to MVAs," he said.
"CFA recently launched a brand new dedicated Road Crash Rescue Support Training Facility which will provide industry leading training to all CFA career firefighters over the next two years.
The facility provides road rescue support training that give firefighters the ability to respond to all kinds of vehicle accidents, a major boost to their capability supporting Victorian communities.
"No firefighter wants to have to rescue you from your vehicle, but you can rest easy knowing our crews are being skilled with the best possible training in case we have to."
CFA responded to 4,918* motor vehicle accidents in the past year. Broken down by CFA region, these include:
- West Region: 398
- South West Region: 519
- South East Region: 1690
- North West Region: 1304
- North East Region: 1007
*Figures shown reflect incidents responded to between 1 May 2018 and 30 April 2019
