Above: Gladysdale CFA Captain Les Hart stands under the garage section of the fire station that was crushed by a falling tree last week. 35657
By Monique Ebrington and
GLADYSDALE’S CFA station was crushed and a fire tanker damaged after a large tree fell on the station last Tuesday 25 August.
Gladysdale CFA bore the force of Tuesday evening’s storm and strong winds with the cypress tree, from a neighbouring property, landing on top of the garage section of the station.
CFA Operations Officer Chris Jacobsen said he received the call about the fallen tree on the Tuesday but the clean up didn’t begin till the next morning, knowing emergency services would be tied up at other jobs.
“We secured the station but we couldn’t get the truck out,” Mr Jacobsen said.
“We brought in a truck from another station that night,”
“So we had the capacity to provide help, if needed, without diminishing fire cover in the Three Bridges, Gilderoy, Powelltown, Gladysdale area.”
The tree was removed from the collapsed roof the following morning and Gladysdale CFA Captain Les Hart said he was anxious to see what damage had been done to the tanker known as ‘Alice’.
“About half the weight of the tree is resting on the truck,” Mr Hart said.
“The tree is resting on the cabin though, which is designed to protect crews in case of a truck rollover or falling trees during a fire.”
Mr Jacobsen said when the tree was lifted off the station roof the tanker could then be driven out and inspected by a mechanical officer.
He said they were lucky that the only damage the tanker sustained was minor paint scratches no structural damage and was immediately put back into service.
“We deal with incidents all the time. Unfortunately this time it’s happened to us,” Mr Jacobsen said.
Upper Yarra SES volunteers were also still working on the Wednesday after the storm.
They responded to more than 20 calls for assistance across the Upper Yarra.
Upper Yarra SES spokesman Steve Green said that crews responded to trees across roofs in Three Bridges and Warburton.
He said they also responded to calls from residents with fallen trees across driveways and roads.
“We were just extremely busy,” Mr Green said.
“We finished at about 1am in the morning and then sent a crew in the morning to help Lilydale SES because they had over 300 jobs to respond to.”
According to Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron Lilydale SES was the busiest Victorian metropolitan SES unit receiving 335 calls for assistance.
One of those calls may have come from Robyn Clark who is lucky to alive after a tree demolished her car as wild winds lashed the region.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges worker was getting ready to go home when the tree fell.
“I was just coming out of the office when it happened … I heard someone running and yelling about a car,” she said.
“My car had been totalled by tree rage.”
The tree fell shortly after 5.50pm on Tuesday, as wind of up to 120 km/ph raged across the shire. Ms Clark said she was just thankful to be alive.
“In storms these things happen, there’s no use thinking of what might have happened,” she said.
