Yesterday, just after 3pm (24th November), Sunbury Fire Brigade were paged to assist the EPA in dousing a burnoff in Deverall Road in Sunbury. This was deemed to not be an emergency, so a Code-3 response was sufficient.
On arrival, Station Officer Whitford on Sunbury Pumper found multiple piles of rubbish burning in a very large area. With the wind in favour of blowing the possibly toxic smoke away from nearby homes and firefighters working to extinguish the fire, a request for an additional three more Tankers was given due to the poor water availability in the area.
“We have a large rubbish pile approximately 200m x 200m, with multiple crews in BA…..multiple pockets still alight,” explains SO Whitford.
With the scale of the fire becoming apparent, a further request to Make Tankers 10 and Pumpers 2 was given to Vicfire, all to responde Code-3. The fire was also sectorised into a Western and Southern sector, with SO Whitford the overall Incident Commander.
With the RDO made aware of the event, Operations Officer Jessica Walsh was responded, along with Police and Ambulance Victoria. Due to the increasing smoke, an Advice message was sent to neighbouring communities of Sunbury and Gisborne.
With the additional Tankers arriving, a water shuttle was put in place due to the nearest water point being a hydrant a number of kilometres away. Crews were also instructed to wear breathing apparatus if going anywhere near the smoke due to it’s possible toxicity. With multiple BA’s being used, Sunbury BA Support was responded for cylinder changeover and rehab facilities.
After a very dirty and protracted firefight, the majority of appliances returned just before 8pm, with Sunbury Tanker 2 staying on to douse the last hotspots till after midnight.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by Victoria Police and EPA.
Appliances onscene were;
Sunbury – Pumper, Tanker 2, Pumper-Tanker, BA Support, Ute
Diggers Rest – Tanker 1, Tanker 9, FCV
Gisborne – Pumper, Tanker 1, FCV
Bolinda – Tanker 1
Bulla – Tanker 1
Clarkefield – Tanker 2
Macedon – Tanker 1
Mt. Macedon – Tanker 1
Riddells Creek – Tanker 2
Toolern Vale – Tanker 1
Wildwood – Tanker 1
Woodend – Tanker 2
Mountain Group – FOV
OO Jessica Walsh
Ambulance Victoria
Victoria Police
EPA
The Incident Controller was Station Officer Adam Whitford from Sunbury Fire Brigade.
Pictures by Blair Dellemijn – CFA Photographer.
Author: Blair Dellemijn