A former deputy Chief Fire Officer of Victoria’s Country Fire Authority (CFA), Craig Lapsley, has been appointed Victoria’s first Fire Services Commissioner.
Mr Lapsley is currently the director of Emergency Management at the Victorian Department Human Services but has also been a long-term CFA employee. The Bushfires Royal Commission’s final report recommended the appointment of an overarching fire chief, after identifying deficiencies of leadership on Black Saturday. The new fire boss will sit above the chiefs of the CFA and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and take control of statwide operations when there is a major bushfire.
