Inverloch CFA douses fire in The Glade picnic shelter

THE Inverloch Fire Brigade received a late night call out, at 11.50pm on Saturday night, after an unattended fire was left burning in the fireplace at the picnic shelter in The Glade on The Esplanade.

Police received a report of a fire in the rotunda’s fireplace and called the fire brigade as a precaution.

“There was no real risk from the fire itself, but we just didn’t want people, who might be wandering around, to see the fire going and come in,” said a spokesman for the Inverloch Police.

“If the fire was left burning and attracted some passersby late at night, it could have started something.

“Better to put it out as a precaution,” he said.

Inverloch responded with a pumper and about 10 members who ran out a small hose and soon had the fire extinguished.

As much as it was a small fire, without risk, it highlights authorities’ concerns about the summer ahead if rainfall continues to be well under average in many areas of the state, already with East Gippsland considering bringing in early fire restrictions.

Fire authorities have already started planning for what could be a summer of high fire danger.