The first Volunteer Emergency Service (VES) unit was formed in 2003, combining a Bush Fire Brigade and State Emergency Service Unit. The first Volunteer Fire Service brigade was formed in 2005 by combining a Volunteer Fire and Rescue Brigade and Volunteer Bushfire Brigade. In 2015, VES units and VFS brigades were all combined into one service known as Volunteer Fire and Emergency Service Brigades.
VFES brigade volunteers are multi-skilled and multi-operational, capable of responding to a diverse range of incidents from bushfires, structural fires, road crash rescues, hazardous materials incidents, plus storms, cyclones and marine search and rescue. They have proven particularly effective in regional communities where small populations reduce the number of potential volunteers. The combination of functions under a single brigade structure allows volunteers to come together under one service and membership and improve their response capability. VFES brigades provide communities with a robust, knowledgeable and effective all-hazards emergency service. The VFESA(WA) is the prescribed Association representing the interests of the members of the Volunteer Fire and Emergency Service to DFES and to Government.
