TWO CFA brigades have warned they would be unable to stop a major fire in Plenty Gorge this summer due to a lack of resources.

The warnings, raised by South Morang CFA captain Lindsay McHugh in a letter to Whittlesea councillor John Fry, reveal that first-response brigades west of the gorge would have only two tankers to combat a potentially disastrous blaze, rendering them useless against a large fire.

The South Morang and Mernda brigades are each equipped with one tanker despite having room at their stations for another truck.

The Mernda tanker is a two-wheel drive vehicle not for off-road use.

The vehicles are more than 20 years old.

“Mine and the South Morang brigade’s great concern is this is not enough to make a strong attack on a fire in the area surrounding the Plenty Gorge,” Mr McHugh wrote in the letter.

“While there are a number of brigades on both sides of the gorge, brigades will be required to remain on the east side for spotting, leaving a shortfall on the west side.”

Mr McHugh’s letter revealed that on Black Saturday, with the brigade’s tanker fighting fires further north, Mernda and South Morang fire crews were forced to defend a 45ha fire at the top end of Plenty Gorge with just two pumpers designed for urban fire fighting.

Other units called to fight the fire included a rescue unit from Plenty with no firefighting capability, a private work utility from Yarrambat and a decommissioned tanker from Mernda with no radios or crew protection.

The gorge was saved by a late wind change.

Cr Fry warned the risk of fire in the gorge this summer was huge.

“We are in a lot of trouble if we get a wildfire in the gorge,” he said.

“If we don’t knock it out when it starts, it’s not going to stop until Greensborough. And clearly the issue is we don’t have enough appliances to combat a fire (in the gorge) when it starts.”

The last major blaze in Plenty Gorge was recorded in March 1980, when fire swept through the valley and into Greensborough, destroying homes.

Plenty Gorge is rated by the CFA as one of the highest risks in Melbourne in the lead-up to summer. The Mernda and South Morang CFA brigades have written to Whittlesea Council seeking support in increasing their fire fleets.

A three-bay fire station has recently been built at Mernda, but the brigade has only one truck.

In another letter addressed to the council, Mernda CFA captain Brandon Delaney said the brigade was confused as to the logic behind building the station but not providing the appliances.

“During the bushfire crisis of February 2009, on many occasions Mernda’s only appliance was committed to supporting the Kinglake complex fires, leaving the Mernda community vunerable,” Mr Delaney wrote.

Whittlesea CFA operations officer Tony O’Day said the CFA was comfortable with the resources it had at the moment, but said it was constantly reviewing its fleet.

The Mernda tanker would be upgraded to include an extra 500-litre capacity in October, and options to get a four-wheel drive 3000-litre tanker were being explored.

Source: Whittlesea Leader