By Mikayla van Loon
Mooroolbark CFA were called to yet another structure this week, to find a shed, decking and pool ablaze in the early hours of the morning.
Arriving at the Chevalier Crescent home at 1.30am on Wednesday 7 September, captain Tony King said his brigade, with support from Chirnside Park and FRV, were able to bring the fire under control fairly quickly.
“It was under control in 10 minutes and I put a stop on the job about 20 minutes in. When you’ve got FRV with two appliances, we’ve got three appliances, and then you’ve got Chirnside Park,” he said.
“So you’ve got five primary appliances, that’s a lot of firepower, put it that way.”
Resident of the home Geraint Gardner said he and his family were first alerted to the fire by his three-year-old son who awoke during the night.
“From that, my wife said she could hear a bit of crackling and then there was a bang outside,” he said.
“So that was at 1.15am. I walked out the back, had a look out the laundry door and then saw those flames.”
Acting quickly, Mr Gardner said his initial reaction was to get his wife Nicole and son Knox out of the house, as well as moving the cars out of the garage to create space for the fire brigade.
“I just wanted to get some water onto the shed that was about to creep into the house and wait for the fire brigade to arrive.
“All the panic and I suppose you don’t really know at the time but your adrenaline is rushing, you’re panicking, and you’re just hoping that your house isn’t going to burn down.”
Remembering from his days at school the importance of getting out of the house as quick as possible and congregating at the letterbox, Mr Gardner said those learnings just kicked in.
Being able to prevent the fire from spreading even further meant protecting neighbouring properties and the main house.
“The neighbouring property lost their fence and there’s always a risk of it spreading,” Mr King said.
“It was a pretty standard job. Not a lot to worry about for us because we got there, protected the exposures and made sure everybody was out.
“The residents did the right thing. They met us at the letterbox which is great because then we don’t have to go looking for people and they were able to flag us down. It was a good job that went well.”
Mr King said one of the best things people can do is prepare a fire plan for any circumstance where there is a fire.
“As a family we hadn’t discussed it but I’d highly recommend everyone to probably do that now. I think I just knew to get out of the house and make sure the family was safe,” Mr Gardner said.
Posting a video of the fire to the Mooroolbark Community noticeboard on social media, Mr Gardner also urged everyone to check their smoke alarms and said a faulty outdoor fan appeared to be the source of the fire.
A fellow community member commented on what a timely reminder it was to ensure everything was in working order.
“Thank you for posting this and sorry for your property losses last night. Thankfully everyone is ok. We live very close by and it is a timely reminder how quickly fires can take off,” they wrote.
Having only moved into the house about five months ago, Mr Gardner said he and his wife hadn’t yet had the chance to meet many of the neighbours but in a silver lining, the fire brought everyone together.
“We’ve had a lot of support from our local neighbours and everyone has reached out and offered help and support, even the fire brigade have been great.
“As far as the location and area we’re glad we’ve moved here and just unfortunate events, but we’ve got an amazing community, which I think makes it just a little bit special.”
Forever grateful to the fire brigade for saving their house, Mr Gardner said “we’re just thankful the fire brigade got there quick enough and we didn’t lose our home. We’re all good. We’re safe and that’s the main thing.”
