By ALESHA CAPONE
BRIMBANK City Council has passed their best wishes onto a young girl who was rescued from the Sunshine Leisure Centre’s pool during Melbourne’s heat wave.
The accident occurred on Wednesday 16 January when the centre was inundated with visitors seeking relief from temperatures of up to 44 degrees.
Brimbank City Council’s director of community wellbeing, Neil Whiteside, said the child was taken to hospital afterwards.
“The little girl was rescued from the pool and the lifeguards administered first aid,” he said.
“It is wonderful the young girl is making a full recovery and we wish her well.
“This incident acts as a timely reminder how careful we must be and I urge all parents to remember that children must be supervised around water as accidents can happen very quickly and often without warning.”
On a lighter note, police were also called to the leisure centre during the previous day when a 10-year-old boy bit his babysitter.
No charges were laid after the incident.
As the heat wave settled in across Brimbank, five snake sightings were reported to the council throughout the week.
The council’s director of city development, Stuart Menzies, said the reptiles were observed in Sunshine, Sunshine North, Kealba, St Albans and Deer Park.
“The most common snakes in Brimbank are the brown and tiger snakes,” Mr Menzies said.
“Tiger snakes are generally frightened of you and will try to get away when approached or disturbed.
“Brown snakes are very aggressive when disturbed or approached.
Mr Menzies said residents who saw snakes on their property should have the animal taken away by a professional wildlife controller, rather than trying to remove it themselves.
“Do not touch the snake – leave it alone,” he said.
“If you see a snake on your property, stay calm and call a professional wildlife controller or the council on 9249 4000.”
