FIREFIGHTERS fought one of the hills’ first major fires on a total fire ban day last week, attending a re-ignited out of control burn-off in Selby.
The fire consumed close to a hectare of private grass and shrubland, which fire investigators believe had originated from heap of burnt-out logs left over from a month ago.
Selby Fire Brigade captain Neville Aldham said crews were called to the fire at a property on Old Menzies Road at about 11.15am last Friday.
He said the fire wasn’t large, but had the potential to become catastrophic.
“It’s the biggest one we’ve had so far, which isn’t very big in the scheme of things, but if it came out on the other side of the valley and into the grass a couple of hundred metres away, there would’ve been no stop on it,” he said.
“We had it contained in about half an hour and cut it off before it became a catastrophe.”
More than 40 firefighters on nine fire trucks from Selby, Belgrave South, Menzies Creek, Upwey, Belgrave and Clematis turned out to the incident and some crews didn’t leave until about 4.30pm.
Mr Aldham urged residents to double check their burn-offs to ensure they were properly put out, as the fire could lay dormant for weeks.
“The people had been burning about a month ago and a pile of ash that formed a crust around it, it was still burning underneath the crust,” he said.
“The property owner had put some extra branches on it thinking it was out, stacked them there to burn after the fire season and they’d punctured the crust that had formed over the pile.
“The hot ash inside had burned the branches outside and the sparks ignited the grass.
“We dug down into this pile, which was about a metre high, right down into the bottom of it and it was that hot you couldn’t put your hand into it.”
The police echoed Mr Aldham’s comments.
Senior Constable Ken Tromp form Monbulk police said residents needed to examine their burn-offs thoroughly.
“It is not enough just to douse the old fire areas with water,” he said.
“They need to be pulled apart and opened up, then thoroughly soaked. If residents have any doubts, they should contact their local CFA for advice. ”
