A Country Fire Authority (CFA) investigation into cancer-causing chemicals stored at a training base will explore whether documents that warned of potential dangers were ignored.
Firefighters at the base in Fiskville, western Victoria, used to burn a range of waste oils, containing chemicals such as benzene, toluene, xylene and phenol, as part of their training.
Some 17 former firefighters and their family members now claim they have developed cancer from exposure to the chemicals in the 1970s and '80s and are investigating a potential link with their training.
The CFA will conduct its own investigation into Fiskville training practices, announcing the terms of the probe on Wednesday.
The CFA will look into the origin and use of the chemicals, identify how they were stored and disposed of and assess the likelihood that these practices contaminated the air, land and groundwater at Fiskville.
It will also search for any documentation warning of potential risks of the training and whether they were acted on.
Finally, the report hopes to determine whether any drums of flammable substances were buried on the site and make recommendations on any necessary clean-up.
CFA chief executive Mick Bourke said the organisation was taking the investigation seriously, but warned it could be a lengthy process given the allegations date back to the 1970s.
"I want to leave nobody in any doubt how seriously we take this matter," he said.
"We are determined to deal with this matter properly because our people, former and current, are our priority."
But the firefighters' union has slammed the CFA probe, saying it makes a mockery of firefighter health.
"It is just simply not appropriate in any legal sense for an organisation that is potentially liable to investigate itself," United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said.
"The government should do something about this - it's making a mockery out of the health of firefighters."
The union is calling for a coronial inquiry into any links between the chemicals and the onset of cancer in the firefighters.
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