New HQ to bolster SA emergency services' capabilities

South Australia’s emergency services’ incident response capabilities are set to get a boost with the help of a new, purpose-built command centre, according to the state government.

The Emergency Services Command Centre — to be built by Axiom Properties — is expected to house the executive and senior management teams of SA’s metropolitan and country fire services (MFS and CFS), State Emergency Service (SES) and the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM), along with more than 300 other employees and volunteers, the SA Government said.

It will also serve as a base for the CFS State Operations Support brigade’s State Ready Reserve Strike Team, which will have five heavy tankers and a bulk water carrier on standby for deployment across the state on extreme and catastrophic bushfire days.

Construction on the earthquake-resilient centre is due to begin at the World Park precinct in April 2020, with the headquarters to be fully operational before the fire danger season of 2021. It’s designed to have backup power, water and wastewater storage and technology redundancies, the SA Government said.

“I am immensely proud that our dedicated emergency services personnel will soon have a first-class, resilient headquarters with the operational tools and workspaces they need to continue the great work they do across our state,” SA Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Dimitri