A FAST-THINKING protective service officer saved property and possibly lives by fighting a bin fire on her way home last week.
The fire outside a house in North Road, Langwarrin, 2am, Tuesday 1 June, quickly spread to a fence and was said to be “rapidly growing in size” when off-duty PSO Christine Burns saw it.
The fire is similar to fires in five wheelie bins at Rosebud in the early hours of Wednesday, 26 May. (“Bins on fire” The News 1/6/21). Police there were concerned the fires, in Besgrove and Hinton streets, and Eastbourne Road, could damage cars parked nearby.
PSO Burns quickly woke the occupants of two houses and got them outside. She then had a parked car moved and used a garden hose on the fire until firefighters arrived.
No one was injured and the houses were undamaged.
Transit safety division Sergeant Alan Kilby commended the efforts of PSO Burns. “It was a quick-thinking and selfless response that very well may have saved lives,” Sergeant Kilby said.
PSO Burns said she did what anyone would do in the circumstances. “Having been a CFA volunteer for some time I understood the importance of acting quickly,” Ms Burns said. “I’m just glad no one was injured, and the damage was kept to a minimum.”
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 8 June 2021
