THE City of Greater Bendigo says there will be fewer Country Fire Authority trucks involved in the Easter procession this year after an incident in last year's parade.
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But the authority says it has not yet finalised its Easter plans.
Proper exit protocols and participation of certain vehicles were the topic of discussions between the two organisations after a CFA tanker exited last year’s parade early to respond to a structure fire in Long Gully.
The tanker was participating in the parade when it was called to the fire. It had to pass others involved in the parade – including people marching – before exiting at the finish.
A CFA review was conducted after council raised concerns with the speed at which the truck exited the parade.
The CFA said in May, 2018, it was satisfied with the actions of members in the on-call tanker that exited the parade.
City of Greater Bendigo major tourism and events manager Terry Karamaloudis said there would be no operational trucks available for call outs in the parade this year.
"Our meetings with the CFA reached a professional, cordial and mutual agreement that there won't be operational trucks from Bendigo in either (the torchlight procession or the gala parade)," he said.
"Based on discussions we had in our meeting, our understanding is anything in parade won't be required. It is just the Bendigo brigade's (vehicle) entry that won't be in parade.
"From our perspective, the safety of the people on the parade route is our first priority and the CFA understands that. It means there will be two less trucks in the parade."
Country Fire Authority operations officer Steve Pitcher said while the CFA would continue to work with council in preparing for the parade, every CFA vehicle was operational.
"Every CFA firefighting appliance in the state is operational," he said. "Response (to emergency call-outs) are managed by CFA District 2 and vehicle responses are dictated by operational procedures and requirements."
"The CFA don't know what vehicles will or will not be in the parade at the moment. We will work with the City of Greater Bendigo to provide vehicles and firefighters (to) work out what (is) involved closer to the event."
Mr Karamaloudis conceded that in a large-scale emergency situation or fire, CFA vehicles would have an opportunity to leave the parade.
"In a worst-case scenario, if there was significant occasion (or emergency), yes, there would be an opportunity (for vehicles to exit).
"Our understanding is if we have a major incident for that requirement, protocols will be activated so (vehicles) can safely and clearly exit."
Mr Karamaloudis said Bendigo brigade members would still march in the parade.
"The Bendigo brigade will still have a presence," he said. "I don't think we have finalised what we are doing but we looking to have members marching in parade with station wagons that have CFA branding."
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