By Brendan Rees
A water bomber and dozens of firefighters battled to contain a grass and scrub fire at a reserve in Cranbourne on Monday, 20 March.
CFA firefighters were called to the reserve near Cherry Hills Drive at 5.15pm which was brought under control by about 7.30pm, with 18 tankers and crews from 15 brigades fighting the blaze.
CFA operations officer Paul Summons said the fire burnt numerous trees, spanning an area of about 400 metres by 200 metres.
Investigations into the cause have started, he said. “We believe it’s possibly suspicious.”
He said the fire had the potential to threaten neighbouring properties.
“Most certainly if it wasn’t for the quick actions of CFA crews it would’ve threatened properties.”
“We didn’t do any relocations whatsoever. We did door knock and inform the houses backing onto the reserve,” he said.
“Because of the quick actions by the crews they were quite safe in their homes.”
He said the fire also threatened a nearby horse stable. “The horses were a little bit spooked by it and certainly our aircraft was scaring the horses.”
“Once we had it contained we re-tasked the helicopter somewhere else so we weren’t continuing to scare the horses,” he said.
He added CFA had not been made aware of any horses being harmed.
CFA sent an advice message for Botanic Ridge, Cranbourne, Cranbourne South and Cranbourne West which stated there was no threat to communities and for residents to stay informed and monitor conditions.
Crews will continue to patrol the area for the next 24 hours and monitor for any hot spots.
Crews from Carrum downs, Clyde, Cranbourne, Devon Meadows, Frankston, Hallam, Hampton Park, Langwarrin, Narre warren, Narre Warren North, Patterson River, Pearcedale, Skye, Tooradin and Warneet helped contain the fire.
