Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Member for Traeger Robbie Katter is calling for an increase to the staffing capacity at the Charters Towers Fire Station, which has half the number of permanent fire fighters compared to other stations with similar workload.

Mr Katter said the much needed extra funding would allow for an extra rotation of permanent fire fighters. Fire fighters don’t just put out building fires, they also respond to other emergencies including car accidents.

“The Charters Towers Fire Station has been running on fumes for quite some time, they need this funding to employ more permanent fire fighters to combat the increased demand on their services,” Mr Katter said.

The State Labor Government’s neglect of the Flinders Highway and roads across North-West Queensland in favour of focusing on the South-East Region has seen devastating implications for motorist in recent years, which has increased pressure on emergency services.

“The increased number of callouts for emergency services to fatal crashes is overwhelming and taking its toll on the both the physical and mental wellbeing of our Emergency Services,” Mr Katter said.

The below graph details the justification for the increased funding for the Charters Towers Fire Service

“Charters Towers has a greater population and an increased demand on its services compared to the other Fire Services of Bowen, Ayr and Ingham which have ten permanent fire fighters and Charters only has five.”

 

	Charters Towers	Bowen	Ayr	Ingham
Permanent staff	5	10	10	10
5 years Average Calls per Annum	274	259	232	212
Population (Census 2016)	11 876	10 377	8 738	4 353
Station manned hours permanent staff*	8am – 4pm Mon – Friday40hrs per week	7am-6pm7 days per week88 hrs per week	6am-6pm7 days per week96hrs per week	7am-6pm7 days per week88 hrs per week
Hours per week covered by Auxiliary On Call**	128hrs	80	72	80

 

“All it takes for Minister Ryan to increase the funding allocated to the Charters Towers Fire Service is to sign on the dotted line and make it reality. The Minister has an opportunity here to do the right thing.

“If the Minister for Fire and Emergency Services needs more evidence to get him over the line, I invite him up to Charters Towers to talk with the Fire Fighters and hear their stories and what they have been experiencing,” Mr Katter said.

”More firefighters in regional communities means a more effective emergency service and Queenslanders will be better protected.”