Last weekend three Fire Stations were taken off-line for 24 hours – when temperatures were over 30 degrees, Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Anthony Roberts said.

Mr Roberts demanded Tony Kelly explain how he determines if it’s safe to take a station off-line when temperatures sore.

“Merrylands went off-line on Saturday October 18^th 2008 when the temperature was above 30 degrees,” said Mr Roberts.

“This is despite the NSW Fire Brigade Commissioner Greg Mullins being reported in The Sydney Morning Herald as saying that ‘stations would be unattended only when fire danger was low ‘– I do not believe that 30 degrees could ever be considered low,” he said.

“Does the Minister agree with the Commissioner that 30 degrees is a low fire danger and if so what does the Minister consider a high temperature,” asked Mr Roberts.

“Over the summer months in particular, this could put lives at risk.

“Safety comes first and no savings are worth risking lives for. Minister Kelly must abandon the off-line strategy until fire season is over at the very least,” Mr Roberts said.