By MELISSA MEEHAN
EXTREME weather left fire crews stretched as they battled a monastery fire in Olinda on Tuesday.
Olinda CFA captain Steve Donner said firefighters were left exhausted, some too ill to continue the fight after very short periods tackling the blaze.
“We had guys who are really fit, coming out after 10 minutes saying they couldn’t physically continue,” he said.
“Their oxygen tanks that normally last for up to 30 minutes were only lasting 10 minutes – it was extraordinary conditions.”
Mr Donner said he and another team were at a reported illegal burn off when called to the Perrins Creek Road blaze.
“We were all in our wildfire gear and had to change into the much thicker heavier structure gear, they are good on a cold night, but not so great on a day of 40 plus temperatures,” he said.
“It was extraordinary conditions,” he said. “Especially for the volunteers that don’t fight structure fires that often – the structure gear we wear is really hot and heavy.”
Mr Donner said that the heat made fighting the fire difficult.
“We had crews going through their breathing apparatus really quickly, they were going through their tanks in 10 minutes and they were coming out exhausted,” he said.
“So we were running out of volunteers quickly, so had to call on other resources.”
He said crews were able to get the main fire wall under control within 40 minutes, but quickly realised the fire had spread to the roof.
“The walls and roof, being an old monastery building, were made of a different kind of fibre, similar to that of horse hair,” he said. “So the fire just took hold.”
Crews from Olinda, Kallista, Sassafras, Monbulk, Yellingbo rehab unit, Bayswater BA and Ambulance Victoria were on the scene for more than seven hours.
Firefighters were called to the same property numerous times over the next few days to monitor hot spots and extinguish any hot spots.
Mr Donner said while the cause of the fire is unknown, he believed that it may have started at ground level.
