Country Fire Authority

Country Fire Authority

Operational area
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Agency overview
Established	1945 (1945)
Annual calls	46,485 (FY 2017–18)
Employees	Operational: 5,000 volunteer Support: 2,483 volunteer (FY 2017–18)
Facilities and equipment
Regions	5
Districts	21
Groups	136
Stations	1,228
Tankers	1,618
Pumpers	242
Pumper tankers	38
Field command vehicles	400
Operations vehicles	255
Rescue	28
HAZMAT	6
Ultralight	285
Big fill	28
Transport	382
Website
Official website

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 21 districts,^[1] and shares responsibility for fire services with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), which employs full-time paid firefighters in major urban areas; and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV), which manages fire prevention and suppression on Victoria's public lands. CFA operations and equipment are partly funded by the Victorian Government through its Fire Services Levy, and supplemented by individual brigades' fundraising for vehicles and equipment.

CFA was established in 1944 to reform rural fire management in Victoria after a succession of devastating bushfires. Major bushfire responses conducted by CFA have included those in the Dandenong Ranges in 1962 and 1967, the 1965 Gippsland bushfires, as well as 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and 2019–20 south-east Australian bushfires. CFA brigades have also supported responses at fire events interstate and internationally, especially with the Rural Fire Service and Country Fire Service in neighbouring states of New South Wales and South Australia respectively.

CFA's volunteer brigades are supported by professional administrative and operational staff led by the chief executive officer and Chief Officer respectively, under the management of the CFA Board appointed by the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. CFA previously employed a number of paid firefighters in "integrated" brigades in built-up areas within its jurisdiction; in 2020, these were transferred to the newly formed FRV during highly controversial reforms and in many cases share facilities with CFA volunteers. Forestry plantation companies with operations above a certain size are also required by law to form CFA Forest Industry Brigades.