“Miracle no one injured” after horrific fire destroys home

DOZENS of firefighters and vehicles battled an intense blaze fire at a property in Cape Woolamai on Wednesday this week. 

Crews responded to the incident at around 2:45pm, where they found a house and garage well alight.

They endured challenging conditions such as high temperatures and winds, with the fire also spreading into nearby vegetation and properties.

While the property was sadly destroyed, CFA District 8 Commander Phil Rogan said fortunately the elderly occupant was not inside the home as the fire began.

“She’s quite elderly and was out in her yard,” he said.

“It was a passer-by that alerted her to the fire and prevented her from going back in.

“That’s a real highlight, the fact is if this woman had been inside at the time, it wouldn’t have ended well.

“It was a miracle nobody got injured.”

Commander Rogan highlighted the fire presented a huge challenge for firefighters.

“It was a really high fuel load, it was a fierce fire and progressed quite rapidly,” he said.

“The vegetation nearby caught fire which caused some spotting into neighboring properties which had to be dealt with.

“The neighboring house was close to becoming involved itself (in the fire).

“There was a couple of powerlines that sparked as well; it was a full on job.”

Brigades from Phillip Island, San Remo, Bass and Wonthaggi were on scene until almost 8pm that night.

“The cause is being investigated, we had fire investigators attend but haven’t received the report back yet.

“It’s not suspicious however.”

There was also concerns the fire would spread into the nearby airport.

“Smaller trucks were patrolling around that area as there was evidence of spotting.

“The last thing we needed was a fairly substantial fire and for the paddock to take off.”

Commander Rogan was full of praise for the volunteer firefighters and their efforts, highlighting it was also a multi-agency response.