Factory blaze at Campbellfield

CFA members from Epping, Bayswater and Eltham brigades supported Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) crews following multiple Triple Zero (000) callers reported seeing smoke and hearing explosions from a battery recycling factory on Sydney Road in Campbellfield at about 4.30am on 9 August. The first firefighters arrived on scene within four minutes to find a 90-metre by 50-metre factory fully alight. Crews quickly called for support and escalated the response. At the height of the fire there were more than 20 firefighting trucks on scene (plus several supporting units including Bayswater brigade’s breathing apparatus (BA) van and Eltham Support) and about 60 firefighters.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF EPPING Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and the Environment Protection Authority were also on scene. A wind blowing to the south-west caused smoke to be blown towards housing estates and businesses. Epping brigade was called out just before 4.30am. When they arrived the crew of four was tasked with setting up a ground monitor to help fight the fire. “We had a twin feed into our pumper from an FRV pumper,” Fifth Lieutenant Vince Zagari said, “and a twin feed out to the ground monitor. A panel collapsed from the tilt-slab and we angled the monitor into the fire through the hole. “The wind was blowing straight through and two of our crew had to use BA because of the smoke.” The Epping truck was back in station at about 11am. Ambulance Victoria supplied a rehab unit to check the firefighters’ temperatures and blood pressure. Eltham Support and Bayswater were responded just before 6.30am when it became clear it was going to be a big job. Eltham Support arrived first and began to switch empty BA cylinders belonging to CFA’s Epping brigade and FRV’s Craigieburn and Greenvale brigades for full ones. When the Bayswater BA van was set up, Eltham Support left the scene. “We filled about 25 cylinders for Epping brigade and Craigieburn and Greenvale crews who used to be CFA members,” Bayswater brigade Fourth Lieutenant Adam Roche said. “We filled Craigieburn and Greenvale brigades’ cylinders because they haven’t yet changed over to FRV’s ‘swap and go’ method where an empty cylinder is swapped with a full one.” The fire was declared under control at about 9.20am, but FRV crews from eight trucks remained at the scene overnight to monitor the building and extinguish hot spots.

Truck collision on Hume Freeway

Four CFA brigades were called to reports of a crash on the Hume Freeway in Wallan at 7am on 4 August. A tow truck travelling north bound with a single occupant ploughed into the back of a semi-trailer travelling in the same direction, resulting in the tow truck driver becoming trapped in the cab. Wandong, Wallan, Epping and District 12 Headquarters brigades responded, along with an SES rescue crew from Craigieburn and Ambulance Victoria. Phil Aiello, from Epping Fire Brigade, arrived on scene at about 7.40am and was the rescue officer in charge. “A tow truck driver collided with a semi carrying a load of steel reinforcement on a section of road that has an incline that appears to catch drivers off guard,” Phil said. “The mini boom lifts on the tow truck moved forward in the impact and crushed part of the roof of the cab. The deck of the semi’s trailer pinned the driver at knee level.” The driver suffered broken legs and pelvis and there was significant bleeding. He went in and out of consciousness, and because he was an SES volunteer he gave advice to the rescue teams about how to free him. “It was awkward accessing the cab because of the damage and height off the ground,” Phil said. “We worked off ladders and the deck of the trailer he hit. We also used the tilt tray of his truck as a stabilisation point for some of our equipment. “Every rescue is a game of peel and reveal, and no two rescues are the same. I could see that nothing had impaled the driver, so that was one less thing to worry about. If the accident had happened slightly differently he could have been impaled. The rescue took about three hours and the man was in the helicopter by 10.40am. “Having two rescue teams on scene was really useful because we used the Craigieburn equipment too. We couldn’t have done the rescue without the SES. Everything went really smoothly and everyone played their part. “But it was a challenge, especially having to wear masks due to COVID-19 while working on ladders and using hydraulic tools above our heads.”

Before COVID-19, Epping Rescue trained twice a week. “We’re lucky,” Phil said, “because we have good connections and a company drops off cars for us to cut up and then picks them up afterwards. More often than not, we have a car that we can cut up safely around the back of the station.” Wandong Fire Brigade Captain Yorin Miller agreed that CFA and SES rescue crews worked efficiently to free the driver. “Rescue crews had little space to operate so they did a great job of effectively working together to overcome these challenges and safely extricate the driver,” Yorin said.