Mick Bourke steps down as CFA chief

The man who led Victoria's regional fire agency through the Black Saturday aftermath has stood down as chief executive, and the union says he won't be missed.

Mick Bourke stood down on Tuesday after six years in the job.

Country Fire Authority chairwoman Claire Higgins paid tribute to Mr Bourke for leading the organisation through a period of challenges, including the bushfire royal commission and the government's emergency management reforms.

But United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall says he will not be missed by firefighters.

"Under his watch, career and volunteer firefighters were exposed to hazardous materials at Fiskville and Hazelwood," he said.

"He presided over the worst industrial relations in the CFA's history, and now he's quit on the eve of the parliamentary inquiry into Fiskville."

A report last month revealed firefighters who worked or trained at the CFA Training College at Fiskville suffered higher rates of brain, skin and testicular cancers than the general population because of exposure to chemicals used at the site, near Ballarat.

A parliamentary inquiry is expected to begin later this year.

In a brief statement Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett said Mr Bourke's resignation was an opportunity for new ideas and energy in the organisation's leadership.

Opposition emergency services spokesman Brad Battin said the Black Saturday response would be Mr Bourke's legacy.

"In the last six years Mr Bourke's efforts in ensuring the recommendations of the royal commission from Black Saturday were implemented will be his legacy," he said.

The Black Saturday bushfires on February 7, 2009 claimed 173 lives and destroyed 2029 homes.

Mr Bourke joined the CFA as chief executive in September 2009.