By JESSE GRAHAM
A FIRE that drew more than 100 CFA members to Coldstream’s landfill site last week has been unofficially named the town’s largest outbreak, with crews working eight hours to contain the blaze.
At 5.55pm on Thursday 6 February, CFA crews were called out to a fire that started at the Coldstream Recovery and Waste Transfer Centre on Ingram Road.
Coldstream Fire Brigade Captain John Fenton said the fire had started in some of the bins at the centre, and that the smoke was highly toxic.
“When I got out of my front door and saw black smoke billowing in the air, I knew we had a job on our hands,” he said.
Around 30 fire trucks and vehicles attended the fire, with Dandenong, Scoresby, Bayswater, Yellingbo, Yarra Glen, Lilydale, Healesville, Gruyere, Mount Evelyn, Wandin, Montrose and Hillcrest fire brigades assisting the Coldstream crew.
Capt Fenton said around 100 fire-fighters were on the scene trying to contain the fire, which spread to all of the bins at the centre, and ignited some of the surrounding bushland.
“Within minutes, all the bins took off and it became a massive inferno of the different fires,” he said.
He said that fire-fighters donned breathing apparatus and were regularly rotated to ensure their own safety while battling the blaze, which was eventually given the all-clear at around 1.30am Friday 7 February.
An ambulance was on standby at the fire as a precaution for fire-fighters exposed to the chemicals in the smoke, while residents were told by the CFA to turn off their air-conditioners and to keep doors and windows closed.
Capt Fenton said that the fire was probably the largest in Coldstream’s history, and thanked other brigades and members for their support.
“It was just incredible – we were one organisation working as one body,” he said. “It was a brilliant job.”
