Premier Daniel Andrews' cabinet has lit a fire under the CFA, endorsing a radical plan to carve up the ranks of volunteer and paid firefighters after a long and controversial union pay dispute.
AAP understands the government will push ahead with a plan to abolish the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and replace it with Fire Rescue Victoria, which will take in paid CFA firefighters, while the CFA will continue as a volunteer-only organisation.
Fire Rescue Victoria will be concentrated in metropolitan and major regional cities and the CFA will serve rural communities.
The plan will allow the government to bypass federal legislation stopping it from passing the controversial workplace agreement for the CFA's paid firefighters.
It's also understood it will invest more than $100 million in the CFA as part of these reforms and plans to increase the number of female firefighters from 100 to 400.
Volunteers will remain at 1220 CFA brigades across the state while those at the 35 integrated stations will co-locate with Fire Rescue Victoria services.
Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said after a decade of reviews it had been concluded the current structure wasn't working.
"These changes will enshrine the CFA as a volunteer firefighting service under law and unite our career firefighters under one organisation - most importantly, they will keep Victorians safe, wherever they live," he said in a statement.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the premier had made it his priority to smash up the CFA.
"This attempt by Daniel Andrews to break up the CFA will result in the loss of thousands of volunteer firefighters and that will put the lives and property of Victorians at risk," he said.
The volunteer organisation has been fighting a long-running pay battle with the United Firefighters Union over money and conditions for about 800 professional volunteers.
Federal law changes to protect the role of volunteers in emergency organisations scuttled the state government's plan to ram through a deal against the wishes of the CFA board, management and members.
The CFA objected to the pay deal because it believed it handed too much power to the union at the expense of management and volunteers.
When the government decided to back the union, the CFA board was sacked, while chief executive Lucinda Nolan and chief fire officer Joe Buffone quit rather than support the deal.
Former emergency services minister Jane Garrett also quit cabinet rather than support the controversial deal.
Mr Andrews, who stepped in personally a year ago to get the union's demands into the CFA deal, said he did because the dispute had gone on too long and he wanted it done before the 2016/17 fire season.
When the union realised the proposed pay deal would fall foul of new federal laws, the government instead amended the 2010 agreement to give firefighters cash bonuses and a 19 per cent pay rise while they waited for a solution.
The full changes to the CFA will be outlined on Friday.
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