A feasibility study into a new fire and ambulance station is finally under way, ACT Emergency Services Agency commissioner Dominic Lane has revealed, as work to move a crew of firefighters out of their triple-0 call centre begins.
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The 24 firefighters eventually moved from the ESA's ComCen will eventually be the second crew to staff the Ainslie Fire Station, which will receive a $600,000 upgrade, Mr Lane also said.
"Ainslie is our busiest station in the city across the whole city," he told the Canberra Times.
"Fyshwick is busy and has got a lot of our gear but most of the incidents run out of Ainslie because of its location and as you can imagine with the development of light rail and the urban renewal project our modelling data clearly demonstrates that's where our activity will continue to increase and it makes perfect sense to put an extra crew at Ainslie."
Mr Lane said their modelling showed a Civic fire station would further improve response times, although the location was yet to be determined.
"Ideally we'd like it somewhere in that City Circle, London Circuit area where it's got access to Parkes Way and across the bridges etcetera but also back into the city but as part of that feasibility study we'll work on options to bring forward to government over the next four years," Mr Lane said.
But United Firefighters' Union secretary Greg McConville questioned what was left to warrant a $400,000 feasibility study, given the large amount of money spent on modelling over the past few years.
"It would be concerning if the result of a feasibility study would be to not proceed with it given the substantial amount of investment that's already been put in," Mr McConville said.
The government set aside $6.6 million in this month's ACT budget to restructure the ESA ComCen, part of which would replace some firefighters who currently answer triple-0 calls with trained civilian calltakers.
Mr Lane said firefighters would be given a choice whether they wanted to stay in the ComCen or go back on the road.
"We want to get more firefighters on the road so we can deliver faster services but we're also cognisant of working with our workforce through that change, we're not going to ram it through straight away. It's a transitional process," Mr Lane said.
"If it's someone who's getting to the end of their career and have decided ComCen is where they want to see themselves out, they're happy working in there, then we are more than happy to facilitate that."
When asked if firefighters would be forced out of the ComCen if they could not get 24 people to go, Mr Lane said : "Not immediately but if they want to go back on the road, they'll be straight back on the road. If they say I want to consider my options, we'll work with them individually and with the union."
While civilian recruitment and training is still a while away, other parts of the ComCen overhaul will start to take place within weeks.
From July 1, the ESA will bring its ambulance dispatchers and calltakers and firefighter calltakers into one team.
"They [currently] operate on two separate sides of the room and they'll continue to do that for some time but what we'll do eventually is go to a singular model where it won't matter if it's someone wearing a fire and rescue badge or an ambulance badge, we expect they'll be able to answer a fire or ambulance call," Mr Lane said.
"They can currently do that in an overflow situation but we'll make it much more homogenous within that room."
While Mr McConville was pleased the ESA had agreed to put together a consultative workplace committee to oversee the changes after 14 months of union lobbying, he hoped firefighters would have a say in the final model of operation for the centre.
"It remains to be seen whether they'll genuinely engage with firefighters on how ComCen will be run," Mr McConville said.
