Mr Ferguson is currently the South Australian Country Fire Service Chief Executive Officer and Chief Officer and is also a former CFA member. He will return home to Victoria to take up the position on 15 November, 2010.
CFA CEO Mick Bourke said the appointment follows a national and international recruitment search and is significant for CFA’s 58,000 volunteers, more than 500 career firefighters and other staff.
“Euan Ferguson is a nationally respected emergency management leader and will provide a high level of executive capacity and leadership for CFA, its people and stakeholders,” Mr Bourke said. “He has been responsible for South Australia’s fire operations, planning, preparedness and response for almost a decade, and has built up a wealth of experience during that time.
“Prior to being appointed Chief Officer in SA, Euan spent eight years working for CFA in a number of positions including Acting Chief Officer, Deputy Chief Officer and Operations Manager, and he has a strong understanding of the reliance on community based volunteer fire brigades in both the SA and Victorian setting.”
Mr Ferguson said he is honored to have been selected as the next CFA Chief Officer and that his wife and three boys also feel really positive about re-joining the CFA family.
“CFA is a great team. I am privileged to be one of its leaders and I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead," Mr Ferguson said. “CFA and Victorian fire agencies have been through a substantial period of change since Black Saturday. I am pleased to be able to join a team that will be working through the lessons learned from the fires and the recommendations of the Royal Commissioners.
“Events such as Black Saturday are tragedies for everyone involved, but it is important we learn lessons to make CFA a stronger and better organisation and Victoria a safer place to live. For this, we have a duty to future generations.
”I'd like to reinforce the importance of the role of CFA's volunteers and of our frontline firefighting staff and I look forward to getting out and engaging with them. In my view, a key role of senior management is to provide support and resources so that frontline firefighters feel well sustained, trained, equipped and well led.
“As a modern fire service, CFA will work with our partners to engage with the community and strengthen individual and household resilience.”
Mr Bourke said Mr Ferguson brings years of national and international experience in the industry and, importantly, has a strong appreciation of land management, community engagement and brigade capability as ingredients to high performance fire services.
“CFA has embarked on a series of changes, as it works with other agencies to implement the Royal Commission recommendations, and Euan will play a critical role in continuing to drive these improvements. He will also work closely with the new Fire Services Commissioner, Craig Lapsely, on reforms to the fire services.
“We are more prepared than ever before heading into the fire season and today’s announcement is a timely boost for CFA.”
Mr Bourke acknowledged the great work of Steve Warrington who has been Acting Chief Officer for the past three months.
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I sincerely hope that Mr Ferguson will be able to contribute to the resolution of the distressing lack of respect for volunteers shown by the current adminstration and the government, particularly in regard to the approach to the career staff EBA and its offensive disregard for the Volunteer Charter and the needs and rights of volunteers.