Car fire: residents evacuated

A CAR was destroyed in a fire near Tecoma McDonald’s over the weekend, with residents evacuated in case of an explosion.
Police said the car caught fire about 8.15am on Sunday 1 November, near the fast food outlet, after its driver was smoking in the vehicle.
Police believe a lit cigarette caused the fire, and residents were evacuated from the area as a precaution, in case the car exploded.
There was no damage to surrounding properties, and police have labelled the incident as an accident.
Caution plea after crashes
EMERALD police attended a number of crashes around the Hills in the past week, and are urging drivers to be careful in the changing weather conditions.
At 6.44am on 31 October, a car travelling north on Kooweerup/Healesville Road, Cockatoo, veered onto the south side of the road and crashed into a B-Double truck.
The truck driver took evasive action, but the vehicle sustained serious damage when it hit the road barrier.
The car was destroyed, and its 18-year-old driver, a Kooweerup woman, was taken to The Alfred hospital is a non-critical but serious condition while the truck driver received no serious injuries.
One the same day at 12.30pm, a driver lost control on Paternoster Road, Cockatoo, and collided head-on with another vehicle.
Police attributed the loss of control to the poor condition of the road surface and oil on road.
Each car was occupied by a driver and passenger, but no one sustained any injuries.
Furlong force for Cup Day
POLICE will be taking to the valley over Melbourne Cup Day to enforce road rules as part of Operation Furlong, with officers encouraging drivers to take it easy over the long weekend.
Warburton Police Sergeant, Tom Wilkinson, said police would be out on the roads on Tuesday 3 November for the end of Operation Furlong, which runs over the Cup Day long weekend.
The aim of the operation, Sgt Wilkinson said, was to raise awareness of road safety, and target those who were doing the wrong thing.
Sgt Wilkinson said police would be running breath-tests as part of the operation.
“We’re out and about – we become more prominent during the public holidays because there’s more people traffic and we’re trying to get people from and to home safely,” he said.
“We thank those persons who are obviously conscientious but we are trying to weed out those who are not supportive of road safety.”