When dry lightning sparked multiple blazes on a stormy January night in Skipton, about 50 kilometres west of Ballarat, volunteer firefighter Nick Cole found himself making a quick decision.
“We got thunderstorms – and that's when problems really started,” he said.
“The truck was offline, it couldn't be used because we hadn't done the training.”
Red tape: Despite years behind the wheel as a volunteer firefighter for the Darlington CFA brigade, Cole said administrative requirements meant a newly delivered firetruck sat idle as fires ignited nearby.
“I counted seven other fires going in the area from lightning strikes,” he said. “So I decided then to go and get the truck and put it online, because this is ridiculous.”
Fire-prone country: Victoria’s 2024 Climate Science report notes significant trends in fire weather across Victoria have occurred since 1979, “with an increase of at least 30 percent due to climate change”.
The heightened risk is mainly driven by rising temperatures, leading to more extreme heat.
Cole said he had witnessed his fair share of large fires in the region in the past 50 years.
“Unfortunately, we do live in one of the worst bushfire and grass fire-prone areas in the world.”
“When you get these fires like we get up here in this area, they're totally different to a lot of other fires in a lot of other spots,” Cole said. “When we get the bad days, they are just so quick.”
Too old, too slow: Cole said outdated firetrucks were a major issue in the region.
“These trucks aren't suitable for the job that they're doing,” he said, recalling a 30-year-old vehicle overheating in 40-degree weather during the Leslie Manor fire. “The crew that were on it had to blow the radiator out every time they got a load of water, because the truck was overheating all the time.”
“If I'm driving the truck, I'm looking at the fire, I'm looking at a few other things. I'm not watching the temperature gauge, that's the last thing I want to be checking.”
The challenges: Cole’s experience reflects the kinds of challenges firefighters faced during the January fires - issues Corangamite Council, in a submission to the state government’s 2026 January fires parliamentary inquiry, will say must be addressed.
Council’s submission outlines seven key recommendations, arguing the scale and complexity of the January fires exposed serious weaknesses in Victoria’s emergency management systems. About 190 appliances were deployed locally to fight the fires, including dozens of private farm units, highlighting the reliance on volunteers and ageing fleets.
What’s recommended? Council is calling for major investment in CFA fleet upgrades, improved communications and back-up power resilience for mobile towers and powerlines, increased roadside fuel management, and better early warning systems for fast-moving grassfires. It also wants more flexible, locally-led recovery funding.
“Our volunteers are extraordinary, but they cannot continue doing more with less,” Mayor Kate Makin said in a statement.
What’s next? The inquiry is accepting submissions until April 19.
“I'd like to hope that the equipment gets better and the communication gets better,” Cole said.
This story was originally published in the West Vic Brolga.
Thumbnail: Skipton CFA