Breaking Point documentary exposes crisis in Victoria's fire truck fleet
Thursday 7 August 2025 – A powerful new documentary that reveals the inside story of how frontline firefighters have been left to battle blazes in ageing, unreliable and dangerous vehicles has premiered in Melbourne and is available to watch online.
Breaking Point features raw, first-hand accounts from career firefighters who are risking their lives and the lives of the community in trucks that should have been scrapped years ago.
The documentary lays bare the damning truth that Commissioner Gavin Freeman, Deputy Secretary Tony Matthews and Acting Executive Director Tom McPherson, who were recently the subject of a crushing 90 percent vote of no confidence by nearly 3000 FRV firefighters and emergency services staff, know but have kept from the public.
It comes after leaked internal Fire Rescue Victoria documents show that behind closed doors the truck crisis was compared to the fatal space shuttle Columbia disaster while the organisation's leadership maintained the public stance that fleet age and condition posed no danger.
Two in three trucks are past their 15-year use-by date, there is a chronic shortage of aerial appliances, and trucks have repeatedly failed to pump water when it is required to fight fires.
United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said Breaking Point laid bare a deception that has continued for too long.
"Firefighters are responding to emergencies in trucks that are decades old, that fail in emergency situations, and that represent a threat to the safety of firefighters and the public," Mr Marshall said.
"The leadership of Fire Rescue Victoria has failed. This documentary should be a wake-up call to every Victorian."
Veteran leading firefighter and UFU delegate Matt Morgan, who features in the documentary, said he hoped it would force the Government and senior officials to finally listen to the people on the ground.
"We've been raising the alarm internally for years. Nothing changes. Meanwhile, we're expected to turn up and protect lives with trucks that belong in a museum."
"This is a crisis. It's not coming. It's already here. We're at breaking point."
WATCH BREAKING POINT
