Combined Effort to Contain Accidental Fire (15/04/2022)
This afternoon, just on 5pm, brigades from Buxton, Marysville, Narbethong and Taggerty were responded to a report of a tree on fire near Eagles Nest. Smoke was evident in the area to vehicles responding from Buxton however locating the fire took a little time.
Once on scene, Buxton Tanker 2 made contact with the property owner who provided details of the area and helped with the initial formulation of an action plan. Lt Isaac Sims, from Buxton, assumed the role of Incident Controller. The fire resulted when sparks from a grinder ignited nearby vegetation which then spread to thick scrub, in extremely steep terrain, and a pile of logs along the driveway into the residence. The fire was spreading sideways and downhill when the first appliances arrived.
Crews from Marysville and Buxton set about cutting the fire off on both sides by advancing hose lines down from the track. Once the fire had been pulled up it was possible to review the situation and develop a plan to overhaul the area. Due to the steep nature of the site, a request was made for assistance from Forest Fire Management Victoria crews. Initially it was thought machinery would be required to deal with the difficult conditions.
FFMV Duty Officer Tom Goldstraw attended and inspected the fire with the Incident Controller. It was then decided to employ a number of FFMV crews to create a mineral earth break around the fire. In the meantime, CFA crews continued to contain the fire with Narbethong and Taggerty supplying water to Buxton and Marysville. Once the FFMV crews were on scene the Marysville, Narbethong and Taggerty crews were released and Buxton remained to assist FFMV.
The fire will be left in the hands of the owner overnight. FFMV and CFA crews will return tomorrow to access the fire and determine if further works are required. Buxton and the FFMV crews departed around 9pm.
Another great example of We Work as One. Each of the four brigades are currently recruiting for new operational members. See our other posts for details.
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