Prudent fire moves

By EMMA SUN
CFA crews have praised a woman’s quick thinking to help contain a fire in her home and potentially save the properties surrounding the house.
Firefighters were called to a property on Hereford Road in Mount Evelyn about 4.20pm on Monday.
Mount Evelyn CFA second lieutenant Rick Ventrella said they arrived to find a lot of black smoke pouring out from the house and were unable to see the roof of the house.
About five vehicles from Mount Evelyn, Lilydale and Mooroolbark attended the scene and volunteers wearing breathing apparatus went in to examine the house.
The fire was put out in about 20 minutes, and crews used a thermal imaging camera to check for hotspots.
Mr Ventrella said the woman’s decision to close the bedroom door where the fire originated prevented the fire from spreading to the rest of the house.
“The closed door impeded the fire spread and we believe that truly contained the fire,” he said.
CFA District Headquarters operations officer Gavin Wright agreed and said the woman did a good job.
“She did the right thing by closing the door at the room where the fire was, notified the CFA right away and evacuated the house,” he said.
“A quick response by the brigade ensured the damage by the fire was kept at a minimum.”
Mr Ventrella said the CFA also managed to locate the woman’s two pet cats, which were hidden behind a dresser in the master bedroom.
“The woman was very concerned for her cats and was fairly ecstatic when we found them,” he said.
He said the job ran very smoothly.
“Everything went very smoothly and the combined brigades worked very well together.”
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but Mr Wright said he was told it might have originated from a computer that was turned on in the room at the time.