A HOME was destroyed last week in Selby by an intense blaze that threatened to spread into nearby bushland and required quick thinking and seven hours of fighting to quench.
The fire, which began at around 1pm on Wednesday 13 February on Greenhill Road, began inside a house
CFA crews entered the house in an attempt to extinguish the blaze but had to abandon their efforts when the fire became too intense in the confined space.
Selby CFA Captain Neville Aldham said firefighters were then forced to tackle the fire from outside.
Mr Aldham said that the weather on the day, which was sunny with a top of 32, had made the fire a severe threat.
He said firefighters were called in from Belgrave, Upwey, Menzies Creek and Clematis to help protect the surrounding bushland.
The CFA also had to call in tankers of water and pumped from a nearby dam because of a lack of hydrants.
“We used quite a lot of resources to get a good supply of water to attack with,” Mr Aldham said.
“We had to ensure it didn’t spread.”
The house was destroyed in the blaze which was finally extinguished at 8pm.
Mr Aldham said that the owner of the house was first alerted by his smoke alarm when he came home and called the fire brigade immediately.
“The message that comes out of this is to have a working smoke detector,” he said.
“If anyone had been home earlier, it would have alerted them to get out or extinguish it early.
“Safety is the paramount thing – having a smoke detector with a battery in it is law.”
