CLOSE CALL: DEC Firefighters Aaron Brown and Dave Camozzi mop up at Kin Kin State Forest after a fierce bushfire last week. A FIRE captain has told how his fire truck "melted" and his crew narrowly escaped death when they were caught in last Tuesday's bushfires in the South-West. Balingup volunteer fire captain John Guest has spoken out about his close call to highlight what he says are serious safety deficiencies in fire appliances provided to volunteer crews. Mr Guest and his two crew were trying to contain a blaze that jumped a fire break on Tuesday at Southampton, north of Manjimup when they became trapped inside the truck by a wall of ``intense flames" for about 40 minutes. A similar incident claimed the life of mother-of-three Wendy Bearfoot, who was killed while fighting a fire in 2011 when a change in wind direction turned flames on her truck in Albany. ``Every thing around us caught on fire," Mr Guest said. ``Surrounding us was a combination of flames, smoke, embers, breaking branches and strong unpredictable winds. ``I left the truck motor running with the air conditioning on recycle. This kept the smoke out of the cab but did not stop it heating up to a point where our whole bodies were drenched in sweat; the inside of the cab was like a sauna, very hot. ``In my rear view mirrors I could see everything that was made of plastic melting. Then one of my rear view mirrors slowly melted, it was only an arms length away from me through the window. We are so lucky the truck did not catch on fire. ``If we had decided to head for the river when the wind squall first sprang up and take shelter in the water instead of sheltering in the truck, I doubt we would have survived the extreme heat in our lungs, smoke and lack of oxygen as both sides of the river were ablaze and the river was narrow. Mr Guest said using a water cannon to create an umbrella of water took too long to set up and was ineffective against strong winds and intense flames. Trucks also needed to have less plastic components, heat shields for the cab, and enough fire blankets for all the crew instead of just one per truck. Firefighters also needed better training, he said. ``When it comes to protecting the persons in the truck, there is no more protection than being in a standard courier truck," he said. Highly flammable blackberry bushes which were growing uncontrolled across huge swaths added to the danger, he said. ``Because of the total lack of any sort of blackberry control in recent years, in many parts of the Blackwood Valley, it has turned into a fire death trap," Mr Guest said. The experience fire captain said he wanted to speak out to raise awareness about the issue and warn other firefighters. Emergency Services Minister Troy Buswell on Saturday announced a re-elected Barnett Government would contribute $12.34 million to protect firefighters caught in bushfires in a move aimed at preventing tragedies like the death of Ms Bearfoot. Mr Buswell said fire trucks would be fitted with water spray systems to wet vehicles and surrounding areas, in-cab breathing systems, heat shields, and GPS devices to send distress signals and allow the vehicle to be tracked. But Mr Guest accused the Minister of ``playing politics," saying the funding should not be an election promise.