Hopes to salvage Leongatha Town rooms

WHILE those at Leongatha Town Cricket Club are devastated by the extensive damage to their clubrooms from Friday afternoon’s fire, and the loss of memorabilia, they are heartened by immediate support from other clubs and the Leongatha & District Cricket Association (LDCA).

“The support I’ve received is just amazing,” club president Cam Dowling said on Saturday morning.

Clubs have already offered rooms and grounds.

Dowling said even those at distant clubs like Bass and Phillip Island have expressed their keenness to come and help.

LDCA president John Schelling is a life member and former club president at Leongatha Town.

“All the clubs have responded, wanting to know how they can help,” Schelling said.

“I’ve just been told Killy Bass offered to forfeit their game and come over and help us clean up.”

Despite the extensive internal damage to the clubrooms, those at Leongatha Town remain confident the building can be retained, but its structural soundness will need to undergo further assessment.

“It’s badly scorched and there’s a lot of smoke damage and water damage, so it’s going to be a fair clean up job” Schelling said.

“The bearers in the roof have only got one scorch mark on them and the damage has been done by the smoke and the radiant heat.”

Scorebooks were saved along with a few photos, but premiership photos and honour boards were lost.

Dowling explained the clubrooms were built with funding from around the community, and a number of local businesses and trades assisted.

“To get to where we were was a big effort from a lot of people,” he said.

The Leongatha Town president believes the clubrooms were in service for about 10 years prior to the fire.

Dowling said an electrical fault was responsible for the blaze, with Schelling stressing it is a lesson for the community to turn televisions off at the power and not leave them on standby for long periods.

The clubrooms are on school grounds, with Leongatha Town maintaining the field for cricket and student use.

Dowling expressed his appreciation for those emergency service personnel who responded to the fire.

“They were amazing and I’m thankful to the emergency services that helped and controlled the fire so we didn’t lose the whole lot,” he said.

Despite the massive setback for the Scorpions, the president is maintaining a positive outlook.

“We’ll rally around in the club and rebuild and come back stronger than ever,” Dowling declared, saying such events have a way of pulling people together.

Positive news emerges for Leongatha Town

LOCAL fire brigades swung into action on Friday, arriving just after 4pm at Leongatha Town’s clubrooms in Horn Street after smoke was reported emerging from a building, with initial indications of a shed fire at Leongatha Primary School.

All four Leongatha appliances, the tanker, pumper, Hazmat and FCV were called into action, with Koonwarra Fire Brigade’s tanker also quickly on scene.

“When I realised how the structure was burning, I requested Korumburra pumper with BA (Breathing Apparatus) operators, and after that I requested Bass Group Rehabilitation, then Traralgon BA

Support,” Leongatha Fire Brigade captain Mick Wight said.

“The Rehab assist the firefighters and carry out observations on them.”

After firefighters emerge from the structure and remove their BA, members of the Rehab team test important measures such as their pulse and blood sugar levels, taking any necessary action.

Traralgon BA Support brought six full BA cylinders, swapping them for empty ones.

Mick outlined the initial situation firefighters discovered.

“When we arrived, there was only a small amount of smoke billowing out of whirlybirds and the gutters of the roof,” Mick said.
“We gained access through the main door and there was no sign of fire when we first entered the building, just heavy smoke, so the fire almost suffocated itself because it couldn’t get enough oxygen.”
The Leongatha Fire Brigade captain estimated the fire took about 20 minutes to extinguish, but firefighters were on scene for approximately two and a half hours.
While those at Leongatha Town Cricket Club are devastated by the extensive internal damage to their clubrooms and loss of memorabilia such as photos and honour boards, the fire’s limited oxygen supply proved a stroke of good fortune.
“The structure is fine, but there’s a lot of smoke damage,” Mick said.
A fire investigator concluded that a wall-mounted television started the fire.
Captain Wight issued a reminder for people to turn off appliances at the power point when not in use.