By Michael Newhouse
FIRE crews spent hours fighting a large grassfire that threatened factories and burnt across an estimated 20 hectares of grassland in Sunshine North last week – the second suspicious fire in the area in less than a week.
Firefighters were called to a blaze in Balfour Avenue between 1pm and 2pm last Friday – a day of total fire ban – as the fire started to take hold and move south towards factories in Bunnett St.
Twelve trucks and around 40 firefighters were called to the scene. At the height of the fire, police called in a helicopter to help firefighters predict the fire’s movement.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) operations commander David Youssef said by late afternoon firefighters had brought the blaze under control, but said it was extremely lucky no buildings were lost.
“We didn’t loose any structures at all because of the good work of the firefighters,” he said.
Asbestos in the grasslands around the area also posed a hazard for firefighters, who had to take special precautions and wear masks.
Senior Constable Mark Drieberg from Sunshine Police said police still weren’t sure how the fire started, but said they were investigating.
“At this stage we are treating it as suspicious,” Sen Const Drieberg said. “There’s no material or hazardous material in the area that would suggest it started by accident.”
This was the second suspicious fire in the area in a week.
Police believe arsonists were responsible for lighting an early morning fire that destroyed at least 20 vehicles in a car yard off Bunnett St on Sunday 18 March.
