The latest data from Victoria's fire services shows response times continue to vary greatly from one district to another, with some regional firefighters hitting targets at less than a third of all fires.
Figures from October to December last year show Metropolitan Fire Brigade crews overall responded to 92 per cent of incidents within the target time of less than eight minutes, beating the benchmark of 90 per cent.
In the metropolitan service, the Western district had the worst results, with crews only responding to 72.3 per cent of fires within the target time at Laverton, and 72.9 per cent at Altona.
Crews responded to 97.4 per cent of fires in less than eight minutes at Croydon, in the east, and 96.8 per cent of fires at Eastern Hill, in the city.
In the Country Fire Authority, the difference in response times in urban, commercial and residential areas is more stark.
Fire crews at Moe, in the Latrobe Valley, only responded to 28 per cent of incidents within the target time of eight minutes.
Crews at neighbouring Churchill and Newborough reached figures in the mid-50s, while nearby Morwell hit 95 per cent and Traralgon had a 100 per cent response rate.
Wangaratta, Wodonga, Ballarat, Geelong City and Bendigo all achieved perfect or near-perfect results.
Victorian Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said this was the third data set to show a great variance in service delivery depending on where people lived.
He said low response times were not good enough, arguing it made the case for the Government's plans to restructure the fire services.
