By JESSE GRAHAM
WATER bombing protected Healesville from a fire threat last week, after a lightning strike ignited tough terrain in Chum Creek.
Around 42 fire trucks and three water bombing helicopters attended a fire on Friday 21 March in bushland behind 10 Cornelius Crescent, Chum Creek, which burned through 10 hectares.
The fire started in a gully with steep slopes that fire trucks could not access at 11.20am, with an emergency warning issued for the surrounding area around an hour afterwards.
“It is too late to leave,” read the warning, which urged residents in the surrounding streets to take shelter immediately.
Water-bombing took place continuously over the afternoon and the CFA announced that the fire was under control at 3.43pm, before giving the all-clear on the fire at 9.01 the following morning.
No homes were destroyed by the fire.
Healesville Police Sergeant Stewart Thomson said the three helicopters, including Elvis, had stopped the fire from becoming more serious and posing a major threat to the town.
“If air support wasn’t available the other day, the circumstances would have been vastly different,” Sgt Thomson said.
“It had the potential to take off and be a big, big fire, which is why it was treated with the respect it deserved.
“It was a very strong approach to a potentially very nasty fire.”
The fire trucks, unable to access the gully, positioned themselves on nearby properties to protect the area, while roadblocks were placed to stop traffic through the area and allow emergency services crews to move freely.
It was reported that ember attacks and spot fires were catching up to 200 metres away from the fire front when the emergency warning was issued.
Around noon, the plume of smoke from the fire was easily visible from Healesville’s main street, and some frightened residents took to the Don Road Sporting Complex with their pets.
Concerned about an emergency warning being issued for Healesville regarding the fire, some residents contacted the Mail, but Sgt Thomson said the warning was worded to address the residents in the immediate area around the fire front.
“There was a bit of peripheral panic,” he said.
Sgt Thomson urged people to take more notice of the wording of emergency warnings and watch and act on messages from the CFA before going into panic mode.
He said that he felt the emergency response was co-ordinated well and ran smoothly, with community members taking directions and implementing fire plans where possible.
Sgt Thomson said the fire was a timely reminder for residents to ensure they had a fire plan and to remember that, as the Fire Danger Period continued, burning off without a permit was still illegal.
