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Mail Covering the foothills of the Yarra Ranges & Murrindindi Shires
26 Tuesday, 3 July, 2018
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Brigade fires up By Kath Gannaway Healesville CFA volunteers were faced with a massive clean up after a fire at the Crowley Road fire station on Saturday, 30 June. Simultaneously, 61 households were without electricity as Ausnet contractors worked to restore power after a massive power surge in the area. CFA District 13 Operations Manager David Renkin said the brigade was alerted to smoke coming from the station at around 1pm. Mr Renkin praised the response of brigade members saying they managed to gain entry and suppress the fire within about 15 minutes. The fire was restricted to the workshop area, but the entire building was filled with smoke. "It was an exceptional effort, particularly given that there was a power surge throughout the area which had knocked out power and meant they had difficulties getting the doors open. "The smoke was intense and it was very difficult to get in there without BA (breathing apparatus) to get the vehicles out," Mr Renkin said. The trucks and other equipment were trapped in the station as volunteers from Badger Creek, Coldstream, Yarra Glen and Bayswater BA unit assisted the Healesville members to deal with the fire and the aftermath. Gearing up with BA teams of firefighters secured the building, moved the trucks out and started removing and bagging equipment including members helmets, overalls and other protective clothing. Mr Renkin was among other CFA regional officers and welfare team members who made their way to Healesville when the alarm was raised. "There's still a lot of Lot of cleaning up to do and we still have to have all the power checked, clean all the gear and look out for the welfare of our volunteers. "You don't expect to get a call to your own station," he said. He said while the fire was confined to the workshop and there was smoke throughout the building, the meeting room was not damaged.
A power company crew worked on the outage problem that affected more than 60 households in the area. 182447 Healesville fire station is out of action after a fire in the workshop today. 182447 While the station looks set to be out of action for the immediate future, Mr Renkin assured Healesville residents that they were covered in terms of fire and other brigade response. "We have taken measures to ensure that fire coverage throughout Healesville area is maintained utilising nearby brigades and we also have the Healesville satellite fire station at Chum Creek." He said it was too early to speculate on
Pictures: Kath Gannaway.
the cost of getting the station up and running again, or on the cause of the fire. "We're still investigating the cause of the fire; investigators on their way," he said. A spokesperson for Ausnet Services confirmed the area had experienced a power outage at around 10.30am leaving 61 customers in the area around the fire station without power, the cause of which they suspect was a voltage fluctuation, but are still investigating.
Electrical inspection officers visited the households affected to assess damage and reconnect the power supply. "Unfortunately this process has delayed the restoration time and we would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused and thank them for their patience," the spokesperson said. Seven properties are still be to be reconnected as Ausnet has been unable to contact the owners.
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