The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales.
The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the land area of New South Wales and the Jervis Bay Territory, while urban areas and over 90% of the population are the responsibility of Fire and Rescue NSW. The NSW RFS is the primary agency for responding to bushfires in the state. In addition, they respond to structural fires, vehicle fires, motor vehicle accidents and wide range of other emergencies, as well as providing preventative advice to local communities.
The NSW RFS is the world's largest volunteer fire service, with 71,234 volunteer members. They are organised into 1,994 brigades (local units). , the service employed 936 paid staff who fulfil senior operational management and administrative roles. The agency attends to approximately 30,000 incidents per annum.
The agency is led by its Commissioner, Rob Rogers , who reports to the Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience.
The NSW Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA) is the official representative association for both Volunteer and Salaried Members of the NSW RFS. In addition to facilitating advocacy at all levels of the RFS the RFSA also provides support for Brigades, Members and their families.
The NSW RFS was at the forefront of Australia's worst bushfire outbreak known as Black Summer (2019–20)
History
Prior to 1997, bushfire fighting services in New South Wales were essentially a patchwork of more than 200 separate fire fighting agencies working under a loose umbrella with no single chain of command. The core of the service, then as now, was the volunteer brigades that were organised along council district lines under the command of a locally appointed Fire Control Officer. Fire fighting efforts were funded by the Bush Fire Fighting Fund, established in 1949 and financed by insurance companies, local council and the State Government. A variety of State-run committees and councils oversaw bush fire operations with members drawn from various Government fire fighting agencies and council and volunteer representatives. These groups developed legislation and techniques but in the main responsibility for bushfire management was vested in individual local councils in dedicated bush fire areas as determined under the 1909 Fire Brigades Act. This Act proclaimed the areas serviced by the Board of Fire Commissioners (now Fire and Rescue NSW) and covered the urban areas of Sydney and Newcastle together with most regional and country towns of any significance.
In January 1994, extreme weather conditions resulted in over 800 bush fires breaking out along the coast of NSW. More than of land and 205 homes were burned. 120 people were injured and four people were killed, including a volunteer firefighter from the Wingello Bush Fire Brigade (seven were also injured). The financial cost of the disaster was estimated at $165 million. The lengthy Coronial Inquiry that followed recommended the State Government introduce a single entity responsible for the management of bush fires in NSW. The 1997 Rural Fires Act was proclaimed on 1 September, with Phil Koperberg announced as Commissioner. As Director-General of the Department of Bush Fire Services, Koperberg had been in command of the fire agencies battling the 1994 fires and was instrumental in developing the legislation that led to the Rural Fires Act.
Volunteer brigades, 1896–1936
Organised control of bush fires began with the establishment of the first volunteer bush fire brigades at Berrigan in 1896. This brigade had been established in response to a series of large fires in northern Victoria and south western New South Wales in the 1890s. These culminated in the Red Tuesday fire of 1 February 1898 in Gippsland that claimed 12 lives and destroyed 2000 buildings.
In 1916 the Local Government Act provided for the prevention and mitigation of bush fires by authorising local councils to establish, manage and maintain these brigades. The establishment of the Bush Fires Act in 1930 granted local councils the authority to appoint bush fire officers with powers comparable to those held by a Chief Officer of the NSW Fire Brigades. These Fire Control Officers were responsible for bush fire management within their appointed local council districts.