Black Saturday lessons not learned: union
Victoria was unprepared for the Hazelwood coalmine fire despite the lessons from the Black Saturday bushfires, the firefighters union says.
United Firefighters Union (UFU) spokesman Mick Tisbury said an inquiry found Victoria was unprepared to protect residents close to the Hazelwood mine, four years after the royal commission's findings into the 2009 fires that killed 173 people.
The inquiry found the Hazelwood coalmine fire, which took hold during Victoria's worst bushfire season since Black Saturday, was foreseeable but the mine operator was not prepared for the $100 million blaze.
The UFU had recommended more firefighters be available for firefighting efforts, but the board of inquiry's response was to acknowledge the Country Fire Authority's evidence that it would have deployed more resources to the fire if they were available.
Mr Tisbury said the government agreed to funding an extra 342 full-time CFA firefighters after Black Saturday.
"Now, the CFA, backed by the Napthine government, is resisting employing these firefighters and has gone to the Federal Court to challenge this commitment."
But the CFA says Victoria is on track to get more than 300 extra firefighters by 2016.
CFA spokesman Gerard Scholten says more than 180 positions have already been added, with the balance to be delivered by 2016 as scheduled.
"It is not as simple as recruiting 342 new firefighters, because some of the new positions are for senior roles," he said.
"It takes a lot of training and skills management to get them up to that level."
Mr Scholten said the Federal Court case had nothing to do with recruiting extra firefighters, but was about the chief officer's power to place people where required.
Mr Tisbury says the lack of preparation also exposed firefighters to elevated levels to carbon monoxide.
He says while the inquiry recommended a 20-year community health study, there is still no acknowledgment of the cumulative effects on firefighters' health.
"The Napthine government continues to deny the link between firefighting and cancer and has refused to follow other states with legislation to support firefighters with work-related cancers," he said.
More than 7000 emergency services personnel were involved in fighting the 45-day fire.
