By EMMA SUN
A VETERAN firefighter is calling for more respect for firefighters following an incident where two of his members were threatened and attacked.
Two members of the Upper Ferntree Gully Fire Brigade turned out to a property on Ropley Grange in Upwey at 2.15pm last Monday where a man had been burning off in his front yard.
Leading Senior Constable Peter Edyvane from Monbulk Police said when the firefighters asked the man to put out the fire, he refused and proceeded to squirt the pair with his hose.
Sen Const Edyvane said the man then allegedly threatened to get a gun and shoot the volunteers, forcing the pair to take cover behind their fire truck.
“That turned out to be a bluff but when we got there he was very abusive and very argumentative,” he said.
Upper Ferntree Gully Fire Brigade captain Peter Smith said while it wasn’t uncommon for firefighters to face verbal abuse, he feared incidents like that would discourage potential volunteers.
Mr Smith said the two brigade members who went to the incident were relatively new and had only been with the Country Fire Authority for just over a year.
“I was at the fire station that day, I sent them and I felt bad, but they’d been to one on Ferndale Road just earlier, where they had knocked on the door and the guy apologised and put it straight out with no problem at all,” he said.
“What happened on Monday can be a deterrent but both of them are keen, which is good. Even in one day, 20 minutes apart, they had seen the good side of people and the bad side of people.”
Capt Smith said a very large proportion of residents in the area were co-operative and easy to deal with.
However his concern was for the small minority of people who behaved badly and treated his firefighters, all of whom are volunteers, in an unacceptable way.
“You don’t just go out and abuse people, especially considering if this bloke’s house was on fire, he’d likely be the first to say we weren’t there quick enough,” he said.
“We’re in a catch 22 – it’s already very hard to keep people but if the wrong person went there that day, the guy might not have come back (as a volunteer) again.
“That’s a huge loss and we can’t afford it.”
Capt Smith said he was at a loss as to what could be done to prevent further similar incidents from happening.
He said part of the problem was that Upper Ferntree Gully was split between two councils – the Shire of Yarra Ranges and the City of Knox.
As each council has different fire restriction periods, some residents might be burning off legally while others would be in a no burn-off zone.
“The thing is, there has been enough advertising and we have plenty of signage out there, so it comes down to whether people want to see it,” he said.
“The behaviour of the bloke on Monday was very disappointing but we know people like him are out there, you always know but hope that they’re not anywhere near you.”
“After 40 years of being in the service, I couldn’t give an answer on what more we could do to prevent it, it’s just one of those things where we have to come at a happy medium and the medium is way off.”
Sen Const Edyvane said the 48-year-old man was now facing numerous charges and would be summonsed to face the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court at a later date.
