Latest news with #UnitedFirefightersUnion
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- General
- The Advertiser
Firies forced to use paper maps to find emergencies
More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer. More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer. More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer. More than two years after a cyber attack crippled communication systems, firefighters in one state are still being forced to use personal phones and printed maps to navigate to emergencies. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of five system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen and paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred in late April, followed by the five in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." On Sunday, Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed it had experienced "intermittent technical issues" since May 24. "We are working closely with Triple Zero Victoria and external experts to investigate the underlying cause of these STO/Firecom outages and resolve the ongoing issue," a spokesperson said in a statement. "When STO/Firecom outages occur, FRV has contingency plans in place which ensure there is no impact to emergency response. "At no time has public safety been compromised and the community should continue to contact Triple Zero (000) as usual in an emergency." Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said cyber attacks were a real and present threat to both the private and public system. "It's important that all our public services have contingency plans in place should there be an incident, and that's what FRV implemented," Ms Thomas told reporters on Sunday. Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the Firecom firefighting information system offline for a year, and affected the rostering system for much longer.
Canberra Times
4 days ago
- General
- Canberra Times
Firies forced to use paper maps to find emergencies
The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety, a claim FRV strongly denies. The Station Turn Out (STO) system, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies.
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- General
- The Advertiser
Firefighters using paper maps to find emergencies
Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment. Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment. Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment. Firefighters are being forced to rely on personal phones and printed maps to find their way to emergencies, more than two years after a cyber attack damaged communication systems in one state's fire services. Fire Rescue Victoria is investigating the cause of four system outages last month, which lasted up to seven hours at a time. The United Firefighters Union says the outages are risking public safety. The Station Turn Out System, used to dispatch crews to emergencies failed, with firefighters receiving phone calls from dispatchers asking if they had received notices to attend emergencies. The notices had never arrived. Firefighters and dispatchers had to rely on fallbacks and workarounds like manual phone calls, pagers, and pen & paper to respond to emergencies. The union says one outage occurred on April 26, followed by the four in May. The same system also provides emergency tones throughout stations, delivers routing information to firefighters and advice on hydrant location. In its absence firefighters relied on a combination of Google Maps on their personal phones, Melway street directories, and separate apps. The union said neither the outages nor resolutions were communicated by management to firefighters -instead they became aware through communication between stations or a call from Triple Zero Victoria. In a letter sent to Commissioner Gavin Freeman seen by AAP, United Firefighters Union Secretary Peter Marshall said the failure of the critical systems put firefighters and the community at risk. "The failure of these systems has potentially grave impacts," Mr Marshall told AAP on Sunday. "Firefighters are resourceful in protecting public safety, but these failures make that job more difficult and dangerous." Questions still remain over the December 2022 cyber attack. The hack significantly affected Fire Rescue Victoria's technology and communications systems and exposed sensitive information. It also left the FIRECOM firefighting information system offline for a year, affected the rostering system for much Rescue Victoria has been contacted for comment.
The Age
4 days ago
- General
- The Age
Fireys using pen and paper as technology fails following cyberattack
Technology outages are still forcing Fire Rescue Victoria to turn to pen, paper and pagers for hours at a time, 2½ years after a cyberattack damaged the emergency service systems. The agency is investigating the cause of the latest series of outages that repeatedly shut systems down this week, but the United Firefighters Union says the problem is recurrent and risking public safety. Fire Rescue Victoria denies the problems have endangered public safety. Fire Rescue Victoria endured four separate outages in the week to Saturday, for up to seven hours at a time, to both its Station and Firecom systems. Both systems cut out last Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. They again shut down for one hour and 45 minutes on Saturday morning. The Station Turn Out system alerts firefighters to dispatch to an emergency and automatically opens bay doors for fire trucks. Firecom provides real-time information about the location of vehicles, resources like hydrants, and the emergency itself. The shutdowns prompted Fire Rescue Victoria to write to staff on Tuesday confirming the organisation was investigating the cause of the outages. In a letter to Fire Rescue Victoria, seen by The Age, United Firefighters Union state secretary Peter Marshall said the two IT systems were critical and that outages hampered the ability of firefighters to respond to emergencies. 'The failure of these critical systems put firefighter and community safety at risk,' Marshall said. 'Without the Station Turn Out system functioning, firefighters rely upon a phone call to receive notification of an emergency incident to which they must turn out.
Epoch Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Victorian Volunteer Firefighters Walk Off the Job as State Enacts New Tax
Volunteer firefighters in regional Victoria stepped down on May 15 as state parliament enacted a new emergency services levy. There were reports of firefighters leaving their posts in regional communities on the night of May 15 when state MPs were debating on the bill, set to come into effect on July 1. The legislation passed in the early morning of May 16, after the state Labor government struck a deal with crossbenchers to secure their support. Under the law change, the current Fire Services Property Levy will be replaced by the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF), which will apply to other emergency and disaster bodies, including the State Emergency Service. Country Fire Authority Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook said the service was investigating whether the actions of volunteer firefighters the previous night were a protest against the new levy. 'The word strike, I probably wouldn't use that,' Cook told ABC Radio on May 16. Related Stories 5/15/2025 12/13/2024 'But what we've done is had brigades book themselves off by saying that (they have) a shortage of crews available to respond.' Levy to Raise Billions, But Sparks Backlash At the same time, residential homeowners and primary producers are expected to pay an extra $63 (US$40) and $678 per year, respectively. Initially, the Victorian government expected to raise an extra $2.14 billion over the next three financial years with the new tax. However, some concessions made by Labor in negotiations with crossbenchers are likely to reduce the revenue the state receives. The Victorian government said the new levy would ensure emergency services receive 'what they need' to However, the United Firefighters Union has rejected the government's argument, accusing it of using volunteer firefighters as cover for a new tax. 'I'm not an economist. But this [levy] comes up on land tax, property tax, COVID tax. This is just another tax,' United Firefighters Union Secretary 'It's disgusting that they [Allan government] try to hide behind the goodwill and good name the community has for emergency service workers, to raise money to retire debt. That is so disingenuous.' Meanwhile, Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes has denied that the new levy would disproportionately impact farmers compared to other groups. In addition, she said volunteer fighters would not be affected by the change. 'I don't think it's got through to everyone that if you're a (CFA) volunteer, you're exempt from this levy,' Symes said. 'Many farmers are also CFA volunteers. So there will be many, many farmers who are also volunteers who will not be paying the levy.' Victoria's Debt Problem The levy comes amid intensifying scrutiny of the Victorian government's public finances. The state has become the most indebted state in Australia, driven by large-scale infrastructure and COVID-19 measures. In the most recent Victoria's net debt is also expected to grow from $133.2 billion on June 30, 2024, to $187.3 billion by June 30, 2028. The significant debt has prompted the state Labor government to impose
