By Callum Ludwig
Five Upper Yarra brigades cut short their Sunday sleep-in on 23 April as they turned out for a shed fire in Woori Yallock just after 6am.
Hillcrest CFA controlled the incident with assistance from Yarra Junction CFA, Yellingbo Rural Fire Brigade, Gruyere Fire Brigade, Seville CFA and Wandin Fire Brigade.
3rd Lieutenant at Hillcrest CFA Peter Jenkins was in charge of the incident and said crews could see the smoke billowing as they rolled out to the scene.
“We could see that the shed was fully involved and there was a Nissan Pathfinder parked in front, which was partially involved at the rear on LPG gas, so that became our first priority to put that out and ensure the safety of our firefighters,” he said.
“As we got more crews on scene, we moved onto the shed. And the two houses very close by that were certainly at the point of almost catching, or were priority exposures as we call them.”
Crews were alerted by a passer-by and a neighbour that had been woken by the blaze and called in Triple Zero.
Mr Jenkins said all in all, it was a very good save.
“We had two crews in BA (breathing apparatus, initially one crew, then a second and we were able to protect the two houses. I’m no car expert but the car is probably written off and the shed was fully involved so it was just a case of protecting the houses as best as we could,” he said.
“We believe the fire was caused by a charging car battery, I spoke to the owner and they said they had a twelve-volt lead asset car battery on charge overnight and all evidence is pointing towards that.”
About 30 per cent of the car was damaged and luckily for the owners, the shed was insured.
Crews remained on the scene for about three hours, with fire investigators following not long after.
The fire is a prompt reminder to never leave batteries on charge overnight or when you leave your house as well as to consider insurance for sheds, houses and cars for potential fires.
