Collie’s new Koolinup Emergency Services Centre will provide support across WA during disasters

WA’s first regionally-based fire-fighting and emergency services hub was officially unveiled in a ceremony in Collie on Friday. The $13.4 million emergency services facility will be a base for an emergency driving training school for Department of Fire and Emergency Services staff and volunteers. The Koolinup Emergency Services Centre was officially opened by Premier Mark McGowan and Emergency Services Minister Reece Whitby. The name Koolinup means “place to swim” in the Wilman dialect of the Bibbulmun Nation. “This is an exciting day for Collie and an exciting day for our firefighters all over WA,” Mr McGowan said at the event. “This is a marvellous new training facility, it’s an incident control centre and a maintenance facility for fire trucks around the State.” The centre, which will also support WA’s high-season firefighting vehicle fleet, forms a solid foundation for Collie to become the State’s emergency services vehicle manufacturing hub. The facility is also WA’s first regionally-based Level 3 Incident Control Centre, which emergency services will use to co-ordinate their efforts during emergencies in the South West, such as bushfires. “This is a $13m investment in the future of fire management and also the future of Collie,” Mr McGowan said. “Hundreds of jobs in construction, ongoing jobs in operations, and when combined with the new fire truck manufacturing facility there will be a lot of flow-on benefits for the South West and for Collie in particular.” Emergency Services Minister Reece Whitby said the facility was world-class. “The South West is obviously an area where there is a significant fire risk, so we’re bringing the equipment, we’re bring the capability to the heart of the South West here in Collie,” Mr Whitby said. “There is obviously a huge economic benefit to the local community, but there is also a benefit in terms of their security and welfare when there are major events like fires and other disasters.” Frontline Fire & Rescue Service is soon to open a facility opposite the Koolinup ESC to manufacture a new generation of modern firefighting appliances to the tune of $125m. This is in addition to a $47.5m contract awarded to WA-based Technifire, which will build up to 300 new firefighting vehicles. Collie fabricator Piavanini Welding will then complete 40 per cent of the work on the body assembly. Also within the Collie Light Industrial Area is South West Fire, which has been awarded the contract to repair and maintain the DFES high-season fire fleet. Collie-Preston MLA Jodie Hanns welcomed the opening of the facility. “Collie and the South West have experienced several bushfire emergencies in recent years and having our own Level 3 Incident Control Centre right here in the region will provide a massive boost to our ability to respond to similar threats in the future,” she said.