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“It just shows you the dedication of not only our current volunteers but all of those who want to join and help their communities.”

In December The Age reported the CFA had shed more than 5000 volunteers in recent years – one of the biggest declines anywhere in Australia.

In 2018-19 the CFA had a total of 54,621 volunteers, including 34,380 in operational roles. By comparison, there were 59,700 volunteers at the CFA in 2013-14, with 38,335 operational volunteers.

But Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria chief executive Adam Barnett said many of the people who had registered to join the CFA as volunteers this summer would not complete the process.

He said there was often a rush of people wanting to volunteer after a major fire.

“I think it’s people saying we’d love to help,” he said.

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Mr Barnett warned that increasing the number of new volunteers would not resolve retention issues – particularly if experienced firefighters were leaving their brigades.

This week  he wrote to MPs, saying volunteer numbers were at their lowest point while demands on brigades were increasing.

A major restructure of Victoria’s firefighting services has inflamed tensions between the Andrews government and Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria.

Under the changes the CFA retained only volunteer firefighters while the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was replaced by Fire Rescue Victoria, which covers Melbourne and urban regional areas with paid firefighters.

“Historical evidence demonstrates that when volunteer roles are diminished or they feel their contribution is no longer valued or respected, they disengage,” Mr Barnett wrote.

“For many volunteers, this means finding a different avenue with a different organisation where their contribution to their community is better spent.”

He said bullying and harassment also remained a problem in the fire services.

“Volunteers more generally are disappointed that the fire services sector as a whole is not being better supported to investigate and weed out instances of systemic bullying and harassment across the services.”

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh used his speech to call for better maintenance of vegetation – particularly on roadsides and under high-voltage power lines.

Deputy Premier James Merlino spoke about having to evacuate his family from their holiday in Bright due to fire risk.