Monbulk’s strike crew helped douse the flames at Labertouche on Black Saturday.
By Tania Martin and Casey Neill
TWO people were arrested in Gembrook last night as police investigated a fire they were treating as suspicious.
This came as as a petrol station in Emerald was engulfed by flames and at least one home was lost, two firefighters injured and two trucks lost or damaged in a fire around the Upwey area.
In Gembrook, police apprehended a couple in their 40s after attending a scrubfire. A man and a woman were arrested and taken to Pakenham police station to assist police with their inquiries.
It is believed locals alerted police after seeing smoke and people acting suspiciously.
The locals may have held the couple until police arrived.
Three fire units attended – two from Gembrook and one from Macclesfield.
The Emerald service station fire was not related to either the Upwey or Gembrook blazes.
The fire started around 6.30pm at the station on Belgrave-Gembrook Road.
It is believed a spill from a jerry can of petrol may have caused the initial blaze, which quickly spread from the bowser to the service station building.
Two women were injured during the blaze, with one being transferred to The Alfred via air ambulance.
The second woman’s injuries were not believed to be serious.
At least one home in Belgrave Heights is believed to have been lost to fire and two firefighters injured in the Upwey blaze.
The grass and scrub fire that started within Birds Land Reserve near Nixon Road, Upwey, spread over at least 150 hectares, fought by 100 firefighters, 20 tankers and three aircraft.
The two firefighters were taken to Dandenong hospital with minor burns.
A tanker from the Upper Ferntree Gully strike unit was lost and a Scoresby truck was severely damaged by fire.
Reports of a primary school burning to the ground were last night discounted.
Children from a child care centre on Wellington Road were evacuated.
Traffic banked up in the Upwey area as police establish roadblocks. The Belgrave-Hallam Road and Wellington Road were closed.
The communities of Upwey, Tecoma, Belgrave Heights, Belgrave South and Belgrave were impacted by the fire.
The communities of Selby, Lysterfield and Narre Warren East were warned last night to be aware that fire activity had potential to impact directly.
The latest scare comes as the CFA reminded residents that the fire season was far from over after the Black Saturday tragedy.
Monbulk CFA Captain Peter Edyvane said the Dandenong Ranges was the driest he had ever seen it.
“We have at least another four to six weeks to go … with the conditions bone dry all we need is a bit of wind,” he said. “I was around when Ash Wednesday hit and this is the driest I can remember.”
Capt Edyvane said locals needed to prepare for the worst.
He said people needed to make a decision to stay and fight or leave early and that those who were going to leave, needed to leave at the start of the day not when a fire was threatening.
“If you are going to go you need to leave at the start of the day … go to the shops or go visit a relative in Camberwell,” he said.
