No. 45

Ten additional Community Fire Units for the ACT  

The number of Community Fire Units (CFUs) in the ACT will be increased with additional funding in the 2007‑08 ACT Budget.

Minister for Emergency Services Simon Corbell today announced $226,000 for the roll out of 10 extra CFUs in the next year to enhance bushfire protection measures in suburban Canberra.

“This will take the total number of CFUs across the Territory to 38 and is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to learning the lessons from January 2003,” Mr Corbell said.

“The existing CFUs throughout Canberra have proven to be very successful in preparing local residents to be ready to respond to any bushfire threats in their area.”

The Community Fire Unit Program was created by the ACT Government as one of a number of responses to the January 2003 bushfire.

“The ACT Fire Brigade has done a great job managing the CFU program over the last few years,” Mr Corbell said.

“They have equipped and professionally trained 28 local communities on how to protect their properties in the event of bushfire.

“In fact it has been so successful, the number of volunteers in each location has generally exceeded the minimum number of people required to operate a CFU.

“It’s the great enthusiasm from hundreds of Canberra residents that have helped make the CFU program so successful. They are people from all walks of life who regularly give up their time to attend training and maintain the trailers and equipment on a regular basis to give their local community an extra line of defence in the event of a bushfire.”   

The location of the current 28 CFUs was decided by the ACT Fire Brigade based on a number of factors including risk analysis of the bushfire threat across the Territory.

“The decision on where to place the 10 new CFUs will be once again determined by the ACT Fire Brigade to ensure as best as possible the most suitable areas are given the opportunity to gain the extra level of protection from the threat of bushfire,” Mr Corbell said.