By Brendan Rees
Fire crews extinguished a fire that engulfed up to almost 10000 tonnes of coal at a quarry in Cranbourne East last Tuesday.
The Country Fire Authority was called to the fire at Burdett’s quarry on Thompsons Road at about 12pm on 23 January.
Cranbourne Station Officer Sam Watterson said the coal stack was believed to have reignited from a previous fire around Christmas time last year.
“Our initial concerns were only community exposure for carbon monoxide. That’s one of our key learnings from the Hazelwood fire,” he said.
CFA issued a safety message to residents saying there was no immediate threat to the community at about 1pm.
Mr Watterson added the risk to surrounding property was low as there were not many houses in the area.
The fire was brought under control within an hour, but 30 firefighters remained at the site until 5pm to ensure the fire was out, he said.
He said coal can be difficult to put out but was confident they were on top of the fire at the quarry.
“This time we’ve pulled the pile apart with an excavator and worked pretty methodically with thermal imaging cameras to make sure we get all the hot spots.”
