A MAN was taken to hospital after being rescued from a three-metre hole in Yering on Thursday, in a two-hour operation that brought together brigades from around the valley.
About 10.50am on Thursday 23 July, a man believed to be in his fifties was working on an underground swimming pool area, standing on scaffolding inside a three-metre hole.
Coldstream CFA Captain Sean Bethell said the scaffolding collapsed under the man when he was about one metre off of the ground in the hole.
“It caught his leg, flipped him over and bumped him on the back of his head,” Capt Bethell said.
Emergency services were called out to the scene for a “trench rescue”, which Capt Bethell said could have been an incident where a person is trapped under dirt.
Coldstream CFA, Lilydale CFA, Lilydale SES, Dandenong High Angle Rescue, Monbulk High Angle Rescue, Frankston Breathing Apparatus Support, Hallam Hazmat, WorkSafe, Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria all responded to the incident.
The man was trapped underground for two hours, before finally being extricated and taken to Maroondah Hospital in a stable condition.
Capt Bethell said all of the services at the scene of the incident “worked very well as a team”.
“It was really good to see the emergency services coming together to do a good job,” he said.
String of driving charges
A LILYDALE man will face court to answer numerous driving charges after being caught travelling nearly 60km/h over the speed limit in an unregistered car.
According to police posting on the Eyewatch – Yarra Ranges Police Service Area page, the Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol clocked the 19-year-old man travelling at 157km/h in an 100km/h zone on Maroondah Highway in Coldstream.
Despite having a restriction of only one passenger for his P-plates, the driver allegedly had two passengers in his vehicle.
Police then discovered that the man was suspended from driving, the car was unregistered and false plates had been fitted to the car.
The car was impounded for 30 days, and will cost $997 to recover.
The driver, meanwhile, will face Ringwood Magistrates’ Court to respond to the charges in the near future.
Nursery robbed
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after the Wandin Valley Nursery was trashed and burgled over the weekend, closing down the business for a busy trading day.
Yarra Ranges Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) Detective Sergeant Pat Barrow said between 5pm on Saturday 25 July and 9am the following day, thieves broke into the Wandin Valley Nursery on the Warburton Highway.
Det Sgt Barrow said the thieves cut a hole in the nursery’s perimeter fence to get onto the property before smashing a window in the office building.
A safe, containing a quantity of cash, was then stolen from the property, which was trashed in the robbery.
“It looks like the thieves have pulled some things apart, looking for whatever they were looking for – which I assume is cash,” he said.
“There’s a little bit of damage to the property.”
The safe was later found near Silvan Reservoir, and Det Sgt Barrow said a light coloured Ford sedan was spotted in the driveway of the nursery at the time of the break-in.
A staff member at the nursery, posting on a Facebook noticeboard, said the nursery was closed to the public on the Sunday after the burglary.
They said the safe, which was bolted into a cupboard, contained a Surface 3 Pro tablet computer, the business’s cash register float and charity donations.
Anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity, or the light-coloured sedan, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, www.crimestoppersvic.com.au or Lilydale CIU on 9739 2300.
Watch your surface call
WARBURTON police officers are asking drivers to be careful on icy and wet roads, after cars slipped off the road on Mount Donna Buang on the weekend.
Leading Senior Constable Tony Pagels said over the weekend a couple of cars slipped off the side of Mount Donna Buang Road above the Ten Mile Carpark area.
He said it was important that drivers were aware of the conditions on the road – whether it was water, snow or ice – and to prepare before driving up the mountain.
“For those people travelling up this way, be more mindful of the inclement weather and ice section of the road that can cause a hazard,” Leading Sen Const Pagels said.
“Anyone venturing above the snow-line is advised to take appropriate equipment for their car and conditions.”
Though snow chains weren’t compulsory, Leading Sen Const Pagels said it was recommended to use them when travelling past the rainforest gallery area towards the summit of Donna Buang.
Car drives away with caravan
POLICE are searching for a caravan that was stolen from Wandin North last week, and are appealing for witnesses after a car was spotted at the scene of the crime.
Yarra Ranges Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) Detective Sergeant Pat Barrow said about midnight between Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 July, a Jayco Flamingo caravan was stolen from a Beenak Road property in Wandin North.
The caravan is described as white with black trim around the bottom, and was expandable. Its value is estimated at $23,000.
Det Sgt Barrow said that a light-coloured vehicle was seen driving away with the caravan attached, and has asked for anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
