By Brendan Rees
Firefighters responded to a mulch fire on Moores Road in Clyde on Monday 30 October.
Crews from Clyde, Devon Meadows, Cranbourne, Tooradin and Berwick were called to the fire at about 1pm at the market garden property.
Cranbourne First Lieutenant Dennis Latchford said the pile of mulch was about the size of a house.
“Lucky it was good weather conditions for us. It wasn’t going anywhere. It was a messy job really, that you pump so much water on it you create a bit of a mud pit,” he said.
Mr Latchford said the property owner was quick to separate the mulch with his tractor.
“He’s done the right thing when it’s flared up and started to pull it apart. Unfortunately he blew both his tyres on his tractor so he couldn’t use it for a little while. We pumped water on it for probably about three hours.”
He said warmer conditions on Sunday 29 October played a role in the fire as the mulch self-combusted.
“It gets a lot of heat in the mulch, and if the wind whips through it you get a bit of ember flare-up. There was a reasonable amount of smoke but there was no warnings issued,” Mr Latchford said.
Twenty-five firefighters contained the fire by 5pm but were called back at 9.30pm.
“The wind changed direction a little bit and flared back up again,” he said.
The Lang Lang brigade was also called to bring in their lighting unit as firefighters brought the fire under control at midnight.
“It wasn’t really going to spread anywhere. The grass wasn’t long.”
Mr Latchford said the surrounding area was safe and no property was damaged.
“We could only use water. We can’t use foam because it’s a market garden. If we use foam it’s going to contaminate all his vegies he’s growing.”
