Mooroolbark CFA received an unwelcome surprise as brigade members sought to turn out for an incident on the evening of Tuesday 15 July.
Someone had illegally dumped a pile of asbestos-riddled waste in front of the fire station befre driving off in small silver car.
Brigade Captain Craig Turner said it forced members to change their entrance to the fire station and delayed their response.
“It also put our members and the community at risk by having the asbestos dumped in a public thoroughfare so yeah it’s very upsetting,” he said.
“Particularly as the volunteers are there to support and look after the community and somebody’s taken upon themselves to take a cheaper option and leave the rubbish where they didn’t have to deal with it.”
The CFA referred the matter to the Enviornment Protection Authority (EPA), Yarra Ranges Council and Victoria Police.
EPA North Metropolitan Regional Manager Chloe Bernett said the EPA is actively investigating the dumping of scraps of suspected asbestos cement roofing and other waste in the car park at the Mooroolbark CFA station on Tuesday evening 15 July 2025.
“Our officers are in contact with the fire brigade and Police have been notified,” she said.
“There’s detailed information on asbestos, how to dispose of it legally, what to do if you find it dumped, the levels of risk from different types of asbestos, and health advice, at the Victorian Government’s asbestos website asbestos.vic.gov.au,”
“Members of the public can report pollution by calling EPA’s 24-hour hotline on 1300 372 842 or providing details online at epa.vic.gov.au/report-pollution/reporting-pollution.”
Mooroolbark Fire Brigade is located on the busy Hull Road, a short distance from the Mooroolbark town centre and near local parks, meaning the dumped waste could have exposed local pedestrians too.
Mr Turner said hindering the brigade was the most disappointing component.
“We have a four-minute response time where we have to be from home or our place of employment to the fire station, and then four minutes from the fire station to the call, the delay delayed members to actually get into the station by minutes,” he said.
“When you’ve only got four minutes, it’s not very long to hinder or slow us down and then there was several hours of phone calls and notifying lots of people to deal with the event afterwards.”
Building materials from before the mid-1980s are highly likely to contain asbestos, are likely to contain asbestos from the mid-1980s to 1990 and are unlikely to contain it after 1990.
Mr Turner said it definitely exposed the people that dumped the rubbish because of the small car that they were in would have exposed them to airborne particles of the asbestos.
“It’s always cheaper and easier for everybody concerned to do the right thing, make the phone calls, do a bit of research and get the items removed safely for everybody,” he said.
“On a better note, we’d like to thank our community for supporting the brigade and assisting us in putting two new vehicles online for this upcoming fire season, without the support of the community, we can’t be there to help look after them.”
