Family’s narrow escape from raging Montrose bushfire
Police are investigating reports a group of teenagers may have been linked to starting the fire that destroyed a home and forced multiple families to flee.
Victoria
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A home has been destroyed and another property significantly damaged after a raging bushfire burnt through 33ha in Melbourne’s outer east.
The fire, which started in a reserve about 40km east of Melbourne on Saturday, sparked emergency warnings for Montrose and Kilsyth.
Police refused to rule out arson as the cause of the bushfire.
Speaking at the Montrose Town Hall on Sunday afternoon, police said they were investigating reports that a group of four youths were seen exiting the area minutes after the fire began.
Municipal emergency response coordinator Senior Sergeant Mark Knight was asked about reports of the group of teenagers and said “we are not ruling out any lines of inquiry”.
Deputy Incident Controller Michael Willmott provided an update on the situation to over 200 gathered residents.
“There was a wind change that came through last night in the early hours of this morning, it took the fire back on itself and caused it to run up the hill towards Canterbury Rd,” he said.
“It is quite a big fire, the reason this one is so dangerous is because it is on the urban rural interface, so to have houses and everything else all around.”
“We have lost one house and we’ve also had two houses severely damaged.”
“This one is still under investigation, we have no idea how it started but police are well and truly onto starting the investigation.”
Forty hectares of bush land has been scorched by the blaze which has been contained by over 100 CFA members over the past 24 hours.
The fire is expected to continue to burn over the next couple of days, despite the area receiving over 11mm of rainfall over the past 24 hours.
There is no immediate threat to the community
The meeting was dominated by concerns about the communication that residents received from authorities regarding the threats to their homes.
The fire was deemed “under control” on the Vic Emergency App, leaving many to think that there was no longer an imminent threat to their homes.
Residents woke however to flames being visible from their properties and immediately evacuating, with the evacuation order arriving via text hours after they had already left.
Mr Willmott conceded there had been some “glitches” in the system during the night.
The area used to have a community alert siren, which is an alarm to warn residents that there is danger in the area.
This was deactivated a number of years ago, with some attendees calling for it to be reinstated.
Helicopter water bombers tackled the blaze, which burnt through rugged terrain before finally being brought under control about midday on Sunday.
One property, on Crestview Close, was completely destroyed by the blaze overnight while the flames spread to the backyard of a house next door.
Terry Moyle, whose backyard was scorched, told the Herald Sun she knew she had to evacuate with her children, Angel, 11, and Jack, 12, who were asleep at the time.
“I walked up to the top of the driveway and I saw the flames right there behind the house,” she said.
“You could feel the heat and see the sparks from the home.”
“I just had to grab (Angel) and I grabbed Jack and I said: ‘fire, we have to leave now’”.
As the family was leaving they alerted neighbours to the blaze before seeking refuge at her partner’s house.
“I grabbed my doona, my blanket and my favourite toy and ran,” Angel said.
Ms Moyle’s property and her neighbours’ home were the only ones damaged on the street.
“I’m really shocked that every house is OK — the firefighters were remarkable,” Ms Moyle said.
It was a sleepless night for many whose properties border the Dr Ken Leversha Reserve.
A “wall of red” is how residents described the fire which swept past their fence lines late on Saturday night.
A resident on Ruby Rd, who wished to remain anonymous, said “it was coming across the ridge at quite a spectacular rate”.
“Within a 10-minute span there was nothing, then this whole hillside was on fire.”
Multiple residents could be seen on Sunday further securing their properties and snuffing out smouldering coals by their fences.
Watch and act warnings were still in place on Sunday morning, with residents urged to pack clothes, phone chargers and medicine to last for at least three days with unpredictable weather conditions expected.
Trees were still burning on Sunday and there were fears embers could cause spot fires, ahead of a potentially dangerous wind change.
A relief centre is open at Pinks Reserve, 115-123 Liverpool Rd in Kilsyth.
Dozens of onlookers crammed lookout points on Mt Dandenong on Saturday to watch emergency services tackle the fire in 37C heat as gusty winds adding to the difficult conditions.
Local Glenn Sealey said after a long, hot summer conditions were ideal for a fire.
“The bush and scrub out here is dry, it’s hot and we have been lucky so far this year but I’m not surprised this has happened”.
“Hopefully they can get it under control soon but the wind is picking up so it could take some time”.
A resident who lives near the entrance to the reserve told the Herald Sun he saw a group of teenagers leaving the area minutes after the blaze began.
The resident, who did not wish to be identified, said that he saw the group entering the reserve wearing backpacks.
“Fifteen minutes later they came walking back up and ten minutes after that all the sirens started going off,” the resident said.
“There were two fires, one on Sheffield Rd and the other down the end of Leversha Reserve.
They started kind of at the same time and there was no lightning around,” he said.
The resident was working in his front yard at the time and took note of the group, being the area was usually a “very quiet place”.
“There are walking tracks in there but they are not well defined and it’s really only locals that go in there,” the resident said.
It is understood that police were then seen speaking to the group.
Thieves steal Salvation Army truck
Meanwhile a service truck containing crucial supplies meant for evacuees of the Montrose fires was targeted by thieves on Saturday night.
Salvation Army Emergency Service volunteers discovered about 2am that one of their large catering trucks had been stolen from a site in Richmond.
They also found another truck with a smashed ignition, cut locks and missing evacuation supplies.
It appeared thieves had attempted to steal both trucks but had been unable to start the Salvation Army’s material aid truck, containing emergency bedding and other vital supplies.
Salvation Army spokesman Major Warren Elliott said it was “very disappointing”.
“We are there to help people, to help first responders, to help people that are at their lowest point.
“Part of our role is to get in there quickly, set up, help calm people down and provide for their needs in the centre.
“To not be able to do that is distressing.”
The stolen catering truck is valued at around $75,000 and has only been in service for 18 months.
Major Elliott believes the offenders would need to have used some sort of heavy machinery to break through the vehicle’s locks.
“We’re still waiting on the CCTV footage at this stage but there was quite a strong locking device on the front of (the truck) so we’re not sure if it’s been pulled off by a trailer or something,” Major Elliott said
Originally published as Family’s narrow escape from raging Montrose bushfire
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