Our duty is to carry out CFA’s mission by maintaining constant readiness to respond to fires and other emergencies. This means acting quickly and using the right number of resources for the situation, while working as one with Victoria’s emergency services. Our actions will be based on guiding principles, shared awareness of what’s happening, and a strong commitment to our members' and community's safety while actioning the state emergency management priorities.
To achieve this, we will need to:
- Maintain order and communicate clearly up and down the chain of command.
- Prepare our equipment and people through briefings, training, exercising and testing.
- Support and empower our frontline leaders.
Guiding principles
Safety First – Everyone goes home.
Situation reports – Accurate and regular updates.
Clear and transparent intent – No ambiguity in direction or expectations.
Community focus – Protect life and property. Our actions aim to keep communities safe and informed.
Leadership – Be consistent and calm, build effective teams.
Continuous improvement – Debrief and identify opportunities for improvement.
Celebrate wins – Recognise achievements and maintain morale.
What we want to achieve by season end
- Keep fires small to prevent major emergencies, with no serious harm to our members or consequences to the community.
- Maintained operational integrity and issued timely public warnings that are actionable by affected communities.
- Victorian communities continue to trust and respect CFA.
Leadership in action
All leaders are trusted to use their judgement to achieve this Command Intent. If communication breaks down, the situation changes quickly, or plans stop working, leaders should take whatever reasonable actions are needed to preserve life and maintain control.
State emergency management priorities
- Protection and preservation of life and relief of suffering is paramount.
- Issuing of community information and community warnings.
- Protection of critical infrastructure and community assets.
- Protection of residential property.
- Protection of assets supporting livelihoods and economic production, including agricultural.
- Protection of environmental, cultural and conservation assets.