Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has defended the government’s funding for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) amid mounting criticism from volunteers, as the state’s bushfire crisis continues.

Concerns have been raised by CFA volunteers online, with some claiming they are being asked to fight fires in trucks up to 30 years old, some without air conditioning, while operating in 40C heat.

Others say dozens of vehicles are broken down and have been unavailable on the most catastrophic of fire days due to urgent repairs.

Volunteers say the situation is putting their lives at risk while they continue to serve their communities.

Speaking on Sunrise on Monday, Allan pointed to increased funding and preparations ahead of the fire season, including an additional allocation of $80 million for the CFA.

“We’ve been supporting our emergency services, supporting our CFA and volunteers, and my government will always support our CFA and volunteers to have the resources they need to protect communities,” Allan said.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has defended the government’s funding of the Country Fire Authority (CFA) on Sunrise amid the state’s ongoing bushfire crisis. Credit: Sunrise

The premier said she had discussed  vehicle safety concerns directly with the CFA chief fire officer, maintaining that equipment being deployed is safe.

“The advice from the chief fire officer is the safety of all of our volunteers is absolutely paramount,” Allan said.

“When it comes to providing that support, we’ve been increasing the funding to the CFA.

“As an example of how ready the work was being done for this fire season, when the CFA came to the government and said, ‘we need more funding for aircraft, for extra equipment, for an awareness campaign, for access to water storages’, we provided an additional $80 million just ahead of the fire season to increase the preparedness for this fire season,” Allan said.

“I got the chance to meet with a number of my local brigades yesterday around the Harcourt community. I met someone who was driving a fire vehicle that had been handed the keys to that new vehicle just a couple of months earlier. We are continuing to provide that support”.

Despite Allan’s assurances, some volunteers have shared concerns that certain trucks still have external rear seating, leaving firefighters exposed to the elements in active fire fronts.

Sunrise host Monique Wright challenged the premier on whether enough had been done, noting the disconnect between government claims and what volunteers are reporting.

“In terms of the safety of the vehicles in which volunteers are heading out into firefronts on, I’ve spoken to the chief fire officer of the CFA about this very matter, and the CFA has been absolutely clear, all vehicles that are put out into the fire grounds for volunteers, they are all safe and appropriate to be going out into firegrounds,” Allan said.

“My government will always ensure that the CFA and our emergency services have the resources they need, and indeed, we’ve been increasing those resources in recent years and again ahead of this fire season with the trucks and equipment that the volunteers and the broader emergency services need to keep our community safe.

“Safety is the number one priority here,” Allan said.

Allan’s defence of CFA funding comes as hundreds of homes have been destroyed across Victoria, with firefighters battling dangerous conditions on multiple fronts.

As of this morning, about 390,000 hectares of land have been burned statewide, and at least 300 structures have been lost, with major fires continuing from East Gippsland into the northeast and in the Otways.

Multiple emergency alerts remain in place.