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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Elliot Williams

Kambah fire station catches fire, but crew isn't there to put it out

The switchboard at the Kambah fire station caught fire on Monday and required a crew from Phillip to attend and extinguish the fire.

An ACT Emergency Services spokeswoman confirmed the fire truck normally housed at Kambah was deployed to NSW to protect properties affected by the bushfire near Braidwood.

The Kambah station switchboard was undergoing requested maintenance when it caught fire on Monday, she said.

The cause of the fire was being investigated.

A crew from the Phillip station was required to attend to extinguish the fire.

The spokeswoman said this was normal procedure in any circumstance where the Kambah fire truck was called out on a job.

United Firefighters Union ACT branch secretary Greg McConville said while there was no blame for an incident such as this, it was a timely reminder that a number of the ACT fire stations were older and required investment.

"Fire stations have a use by date and I reckon Kambah is probably reaching it," Mr McConville said.

The Kambah fire station was opened in 1979.

He said the Ainslie and Phillip stations were in a similar predicament and decisions would need to be made on the future investment required for these properties soon to avoid "throwing good money after bad".

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