Water everywhere in Plumpton

On Saturday afternoon, Caroline Springs and Melton were paged to a reported car trapped in flood waters in Sinclairs Road in Rockbank. On arrival, Station Officer Walker on Caroline Springs Pumper found a Ford Territory stuck precariously in the swollen roadway, with three occupants unable to get out.

With Melton Rescue enroute, a call was made for a swift water rescue team to be dispatched as a precaution. It was decided, after completing a risk assessment of the scene, that Caroline Springs Pumper-Tanker would traverse the water logged roadway to rescue the occupants. A successful rescue operation was undertaken under the direction of Lieutenant Peters and SO Walker. The occupants were relieved to be back on dry land, having not sustained any injuries. 

This serves as a timely reminder not to try and traverse swollen roadways, even if you think you will make it. It can end in tragedy.

24 hours later, Mt Cottrell FOV, Coimadai Hoselay, Bacchus Marsh Big-Fill, Toolern Vale and Rockbank Brigades, as well as SES and Victoria Police, were responded to a Dam that was threatening to burst and inundate the low-lying areas of Plumpton, including the Witchmount Winery and Windmill Gardens Restaurant.

Approximately 30 million litres of water was held in the dam, with a great amount of it slowly leaking through a purpose built dam wall. With the help of an on-site excavator, a breach was put into the wall in another area to alleviate some of the pressure, and let it slowly drain away via a natural watercourse. With Police and SES staying on scene to control the flow of water, and possibly close off Melton Highway, CFA were released after a number of hours.

Another successful operation undertaken by all emergency services working together.

Pictures by Blair Dellemijn – CFA Photographer.