By Nicole Williams
WILSON Botanic Park is a firecracker waiting to go up in flames according to an avid park visitor.
Berwick resident John Hastie walks his dog in the park five times a week and believes long grass, undergrowth and pine trees pose a fire risk to the park and surrounding areas.
“If someone happened to drop a match in there, it would go up like a firecracker,” he said.
“I would be nervous about the possibility of a fire starting in there.”
“I am concerned that if I fire were to start in the park, the whole area would be under threat.”
Mr Hastie said he was also concerned that locked gates after hours and bollards blocking cars from entering the park would hinder any fire-fighting efforts,
“A fire could really take hold in there and the CFA would have virtually no hope of getting to it,” he said.
“There are no fire-fighting facilities that I am aware of in the park.”
Berwick CFA Captian Alan Boyd said while there was a fire risk in the park, it had not been deemed serious.
“Over the years, we have had a small number of relatively insignificant fires in the park which have been quickly dealt with and posed no threat to homes outside the park,” he said.
“We regularly visit the park and familiarise ourselves with the layout and development. “Naturally if a fire developed on a bad day it would pose challenges for us, however, we have a good concentration of resources at our disposal and these would be utilised to protect the park and surrounding homes.”
Mr Boyd said park management undertakes fire preventative measures, such as grass cutting, and the CFA has organised 24-hour access to the park.
City of Casey Manager Sport and Leisure Richard Amon said the council was currently reviewing its Emergency Management Plan for Wilson Botanic Park, including its Fire Policy.
“The review of the plan includes assessing the fire risk at the park, consultation with the CFA and other emergency services and addresses emergency after-hours access and a review of the fire warden system at the park,” Mr Amon said.
