Forestry plantation companies with operations above a certain size are also required by law to form CFA Forest Industry Brigades.

[2] But for the remainder of rural Victoria, Bush Fire Brigades, mostly made up of local landowners received little or no financial assistance from the State Government and tended to operate independently from their urban counterparts.

[2] Following on the calamitous bushfires of 1926, the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV), having obtained the co-operation of the CFBB and the Lands and Police Departments, undertook an extensive campaign to encourage the formation and coordination of rural fire-fighting units.

[3] Bush Fire Brigades operated under very different culture, had little formal structure, training or equipment compared to their urban counterparts but these firefighters were passionate, committed and effective volunteers.

The subsequent Royal Commission conducted by Judge Leonard Stretton has been described as one of the most significant inquiries in the history of Victorian public administration.

The war years then intervened from September 1939, and arguably the legislative reforms recommended by Judge Stretton moved to the back burner.

In particular, the loss of 13 lives a Yallourn fires on February 14, 1944 and the impact on the State's electricity supplies when the critical brown coal fields caught alight brought these bushfires into sharp focus.

Stretton's report returned to his earlier themes and once again highlighted the lack of cohesive firefighting ability outside the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade area.

After nearly 6 months of debate in State Parliament, legislation to establish the Country Fire Authority (CFA) was finally passed in two stages on 22 November and 6 December 1944.

[2] On 19 December, the State Premier Albert Dunstan announced that Mr Alexander Mercer King of Ballarat was to be appointed Chairman of the CFA Board for the first year, along with 12 members.

[6] By the time of the creation of the CFA in 1944 the Forests Commission had, to some extent, been supporting 768 Bush Fire Brigades with 35,000 volunteer members and £100,000 worth of equipment, which then transferred over to the new organisation.

The CFA budgeted income for 2013–14 was $473m, of which $448m was provided by state government contributions, and $25m was internally generated (fees and charges, interest, donations, and sales of goods and services).

[8] Additional government funding can be provided for specific staffing or training improvements, major works, or during long-duration incidents.

The CFA also receives some funding from the provision of goods and services to external bodies, including Fire Equipment Maintenance (FEM).

The Authority is controlled by a board, and falls under the portfolio of Victorian Legislative Assembly Member, The Honourable Lisa Neville, the Minister for Emergency Services since 29 November 2018.

The state government also lease a large fleet of firefighting aircraft to assist brigades throughout the busy Summer fire season.

The fleet comprises rotary and fixed wing aircraft, from small single-engined planes up to Very Large Aerial Tankers, based on commercial passenger jets.

[20] ESTA is also responsible for Victoria's State Emergency Service call-taking and dispatch for non-life-threatening storm damage or flooding via 132 500.

Services are often already being notified by the dispatcher while the call-taker is still obtaining further information or giving advice, such as guiding the caller through CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation).

Brigades are dispatched based on various factors including the time of day, location and type of fire or incident.

Specialist vehicles may also be dispatched, especially for incidents such as for road accident rescue or large structural fires where the response is anticipated.

"CFA's regional training campuses allow firefighters to experience operational scenarios, including live fires, in a safe, controlled and realistic environment.

This is essential in developing and maintaining skills needed to fulfil the mission of protecting lives and property in Victorian communities.

In late 2015 and early 2022, CFA firefighters were deployed to the South Australian fires, in support of CFS and SAFS crews.

More recently (2022) CFA volunteer firefighters have been deployed to the basin areas along the Murray River, reaching into NSW during flooding events.

In this series of exciting sporting events, Volunteer brigades compete in challenges based on past and (modified) current firefighting practices.