Firefighters alliance counters claims of transmission line risk

The Australian Firefighters Climate Alliance has addressed reports in Victorian regional media of some firefighters in Victoria’s rural west stating that “there’s absolutely no way they would attend a fire on a property crossed by the VNI West high-voltage transmission line”.

VNI West (the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West) is a proposed overhead transmission line intended to enable the connection of new forms of electricity generation across Victoria’s north-west, as well as allowing Victoria to share generation and storage with New South Wales.

In media interviews, the firefighters claimed that attempting to put out fires on properties hosting VNI west would be too dangerous because of smoke and the possibility of powerlines shorting.

“It is disappointing to see these sort of wild claims” said Australian Firefighters Climate Alliance spokesperson Cam Walker. “As with any tall structure, there are protocols regarding how firefighting occurs around high-voltage powerlines, and refusing to attend a fire near these lines would potentially put the community at risk.

“No one is suggesting that firefighters work next to a fire front passing under a high-voltage powerline,” Walker continued. “In fact, CFA protocols dictate that crews should not work close to a fire passing under these lines. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous and potentially constitutes misinformation.”

Walker acknowledged that any new structure brings a fire risk that must be considered in the approvals process, but said that, compared with many activities in agricultural areas, there was no additional or novel risk attached to a fire around a powerline.

“The first high-voltage overhead lines in Victoria were built in the 1950s. We have decades of experience working around this type of infrastructure and to suggest that VNI West lines would constitute a new risk is just fear mongering,” he said.

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