By Callum Ludwig
Yarra Ranges emergency crews were run off their feet over the weekend with three separate incidents occurring on local roads.
On Sunday 4 December, there was a collision on Woods Point Road, Reefton at 1.27pm, a collision on the Maroondah Highway near Station Street, Coldstream around 1.30pm and a collision on Maroondah Highway near Healesville just before 2.20pm.
In Reefton, Upper Yarra SES and Reefton, Warburton, Wandin and Monbulk CFAs crews attended the scene where a motorcyclist was involved in a serious collision with a tree in Reefton.
Wandin Fire Brigade Captain Darryn Goss said crews arrived to find a male with significant injuries down an embankment.
“CFA conducted a technical rope rescue with assistance from SES to immobilise the patient and extract him from the embankment, at which point he was transferred to air ambulance and taken to hospital,” he said.
“Communications was made tricky at the scene due to the lack of telephone and radio reception in the area.
“We appreciate that it was a very nice day and people were out travelling, but it’s a reminder to be mindful when travelling on windy roads and for motorcyclists to wear full protective gear like this man was which undoubtedly prevented him from further injuries.”
The rider, a 51-year-old Tarneit man, was taken to the Alfred Hospital with life-threatening upper body injuries, in a serious but stable condition.
A man in his mid-20s was also taken to Maroondah Hospital in a stable condition with lower body injuries.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash and urge anyone with information, dashcam vision to come forward.
On the other side of the Yarra Valley around the same time at 1.30pm, paramedics treated a man in his 80s and a man in his 60s at the scene of a car crash on Maroondah Highway near Station Street, Coldstream.
Both men were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.
Mr Bethel said the incident was a two-car head-on collision.
“The cars were travelling in the opposite direction to each other just outside The Gateway, and were both left pretty sore in the chest and leg areas, mostly from the airbags,” he said.
“The Maroondah Highway was closed for probably 20-30 minutes, causing a big bank up of traffic up past Adam’s Farm in the Healesville direction and up to the Warburton Highway in the other.”
Coldstream CFA also attended the 2.20pm crash at Maroondah Highway near Healesville where paramedics treated a man in his 30s.
He was taken to the Alfred Hospital in a stable condition.
Mr Bethel said this incident was able to be made safe quite quickly.
“The person that was involved appeared to have had a medical emergency of some sort and had come off the road, but his injuries were quite superficial,” he said.
“It was more his medical background that they were attending to, and it had happened in the area where the overtaking lanes are so police were able to set up traffic cones and traffic flowed quite nicely.”
The busy weekend comes after a serious crash earlier in the week on Warburton Highway where a truck towing a wood chipper and a Nissan Patrol collided.
The Seville East crash on Tuesday 29 November caused a highway closure and two people to be taken to hospital.
Turn to page five for more on this incident.
