TOTTENHAM residents claimed a major victory last week after parliament agreed to fund emergency equipment to prevent the recurrence of incidents like last year’s chlorine fire.
Greens MLC Colleen Hartland won the Legislative Council’s unanimous support to finance an emergency telephone alerting system that would be implemented across all Victorian residential zones near industrial areas.
The system has the capacity to simultaneously broadcast voice messages to almost 1000 landlines, mobile phones and answering machines.
Residents and emergency services alike will be able to transmit and receive information during and after a crisis situation.
Ms Hartland’s motion also included an investigation into providing larger buffers between residential and ‘Industrial 1’ zones and publicising any investigations concerning last year’s Tottenham Fire incident.
“This isn’t only a win for Tottenham residents, it’s a win for everyone who lives close to heavy industry throughout Victoria,” she said.
“We are finally getting recognition that no matter where you live, residents have a right to live safely in their own homes.”
The Tottenham fire broke out on 22 December 2007 at distribution and warehouse company West Point Pty Ltd on Indwe St, where chlorine and other pool chemicals had been stored.
The fire sent clouds of toxic smoke through the Tottenham, West Footscray and Seddon areas, causing respiratory problems for residents and their pets.
“Residents found it hard to breathe, they were coughing or choking and their eyes were streaming, and their pets were vomiting.
“Their gardens were damaged or partially destroyed,” Ms Hartland said.
“They also tried to pass on information to the MFB (Metropolitan Fire Brigade) about the chlorine smoke filling their homes.
“We actually found out later that the 000 service has no mechanism by which it can pass on this vital information to the emergency service personnel on the ground.”
She compared the Tottenham incident with the 1991 Coode Island fire, which sent a cloud of toxic fumes over Melbourne.
It’s been a decade since the State Government scrapped plans to move the facility.
Tottenham Residents Group member Nora Tchekmeyan, whose Indwe St property was used as a safe house during the incident, has praised parliament’s verdict.
“We’re rapt that no other Victorian will have to ever deal with what we went through on the day…(it) is just going to make us feel that much safer,” she said.
“Our house was actually safe from the toxic fumes, which meant that my husband has to go in and rescue neighbours and their pets.
“He actually thought he might get driven over by a fire brigade engine because he actually couldn’t see anything through the big chlorine fog and the fire brigade did admit it was worse than the worst bushfire conditions.
“We had absolutely no idea what was stored there; none of the neighbours knew.”
