December 3rd, 2023Brigades battle to save house at Main Ridge

On Friday November 17 at 3.50pm, CFA brigades and an Fire Rescue Victoria crew were called to a shed fire in Main Creek Rd, Main Ridge.

When Main Ridge Fire Brigade arrived on scene, the shed was fully alight with flames at least two metres higher than the roof, licking at a power line.

A CFA Westernport Group strike team leader, David Breadmore, who was nearby at the time was also quick to attend to manage the incident.

A local man, David Hunt from Peninsula Fresh Water Supplies, noticed smoke coming from the shed while he was driving past. He pulled over in his water tanker and used a hose to put water on the fire.

While approaching the fire a significant dark plume of smoke was visible, so more tankers were requested immediately. When Main Ridge and Rosebud trucks poured water onto the shed fire, both brigades ran out of water in under 10 minutes. More water was sourced from the Peninsula Fresh Water Supplies tanker to protect the home from the shed fire. This extra water supply allowed brigades to stop the fire spreading to the nearby house.

The shed fire took approximately 30 minutes to control and around an hour to extinguish, with Red Hill, Main Ridge, Rosebud, Flinders, Dromana and Shoreham brigades attending and working together.

Thirteen CFA vehicles were on scene including the Group field operations vehicle and Rosebud’s support van. Also on scene were Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, a CFA fire investigator, United Power and the Mornington Peninsula building surveyor.

Without these resources the house would have been lost or severely damaged. Two community members were injured (smoke inhalation and burns) trying to contain the fire and were treated by Ambulance Victoria.