Fire dispatching service crash risked lives, says United Firefighters Union FIREFIGHTERS' crucial computer dispatching service crashed today, leaving lives at risk for several hours, a union says. Firecom, the MFB internal dispatching service, crashed twice after 10.30am today. The MFB had to dispatch its crews with either phones or radios. Despite the malfunction, the MFB said there were no delays in getting to jobs. United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said the system crash could have been life- threatening. It is just not good enough. If the phone is engaged or not working the jobs are not coming through," Mr Marshall said. If the fire truck is at the station, firefighters are generally not near the trucks and therefore would not hear the radio. Apart from fires, we also respond to medical emergencies. Any delay in getting to a patient could cause a risk to life. MFB spokesman David Bruce said the system went down after 10.30am and again about 11.45am. Mr Bruce said the MFB was still investigating the cause of the crash but the system had gone back online after 2pm.