FIREFIGHTERS are being forced to battle major blazes without specialist support vehicles, with the trucks operational just a third of the time because of inadequate staffing.

Leaked documents show the trucks, which carry supplies such as extra air cylinders for breathing apparatus, were also unavailable to restock safety equipment at fire stations which, the Fire Brigade Employees Union said, meant several stations had to temporarily shut their doors.

Rosters from earlier this month reveal there were times when all three Logistic Support Vehicles – based in Parramatta, Kogarah and the City of Sydney – were unstaffed, with one only available for three shifts for an entire week. In the first week of March just 13 of the 39 shifts were manned, the documents reveal.

At one recent incident in Sydney’s southwest, where more than 80 firefighters fought an industrial fire, requests for a support vehicle were denied, with headquarters saying no one had been in the co-ordinator position on the truck for eight weeks.

FIREFIGHTERS are being forced to battle major blazes without specialist support vehicles, with the trucks operational just a third of the time because of inadequate staffing.

Leaked documents show the trucks, which carry supplies such as extra air cylinders for breathing apparatus, were also unavailable to restock safety equipment at fire stations which, the Fire Brigade Employees Union said, meant several stations had to temporarily shut their doors.

Rosters from earlier this month reveal there were times when all three Logistic Support Vehicles – based in Parramatta, Kogarah and the City of Sydney – were unstaffed, with one only available for three shifts for an entire week. In the first week of March just 13 of the 39 shifts were manned, the documents reveal.

At one recent incident in Sydney’s southwest, where more than 80 firefighters fought an industrial fire, requests for a support vehicle were denied, with headquarters saying no one had been in the co-ordinator position on the truck for eight weeks.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/elite-fire-units-off-the-road/story-e6f…