Deliberately lit

By Melissa Meehan
EMERALD and Avonsleigh faced its most significant bushfire threat since Black Saturday over the weekend, in a blaze police believe was deliberately lit.
The fire started at about 2pm on Sunday in Stuart Road.
Detective Senior Constable Colin Beard from Pakenham Police said while there were initial reports of two separate fires, one on Stuart Road and one on Paton Road, the latter was caused from spotting from the Stuart Road fire.
As the fire crews battled the blaze, both the Emerald Golf Course and Emerald Lake Park were closed as a precaution.
Det Beard said there had been reports of two white four-wheel drives in the areas when the fire first began.
“We want to hear from anyone who saw a white 4WD on the scene at Stuart Road,” he said.
“In the car was a male in his late forties with receding brown hair, and a female.”
Just 45 minutes later another report was received by police regarding a man acting suspiciously in the vicinity of Greaves Road.
“A man, described as around 60 years of age, with a medium build, grey hair and a beard was reported as acting suspiciously,” he said.
“He had a dog with him, possibly a kelpie.”
Police believe the incidents could be linked.
“We want to hear from anyone who saw the man, or for him to come forward and assist with inquiries,” he said.
Emerald CFA captain Paul Yandle said CFA investigators would monitor the fire ground over the next few days.
He said fire crews, from all over the region did a “terrific job” of controlling the fire within hours of it starting.
“We had a total of 40 appliances on the scene,” he said.
“This meant we had 20 on the fire ground and another 20 on standby – if we needed to protect townships and other assets.”
He said with the help of the helicopter water bomber, crews contained the fire to four hectares – just before the storms hit.
“We were able to contain the fire by 4.30pm and kept crews on scene until 11pm,” he said.
“It was certainly the first significant fire in the Dandenongs for some time.”
Despite the severe fire risk, Mr Yandle said he was concerned residents were not listening to the message to leave early.
“It looked like many people started to relocate after the fire had started,” he said.
“The CFA has always said to go early – but it seems that people just don’t take heed of that.”
He said it led to chaos on the roads and that was why all residents should have their fire plans in place on during hot weather conditions.