FRIGHTENING fires burning across Melbourne, council ‘cool centres’ during heatwaves and a boy sent home from hospital twice with broken bones were among the stories making news this week.
Fires blaze across Melbourne
MELBOURNE was terrorised by fire again this week, with blazes destroying property and livestock, but thankfully no human life.
Houses were razed in Warrandyte and Mickleham, and further afield at Kilmore, and fires also scorched areas of Gisborne and the Macedon Ranges.
At Gisborne, an exhausted herd of deer survived a grassfire, while in Mickleham police stepped up patrols after fears looters were targeting properties in the aftermath of the fires.
In Boronia, wildlife carer Yvonne Cowling, affectionately known as Possum Lady, has taken in her daughter, Linda Kosmer, and granddaughters Jemma, 6, and Casey, 8, who do not know if their Kilmore home is still standing.
Warrandyte residents Yelda and Tim Hall with children Adem, 11, Oscar, 9 months, and Yasmine, 13. The family’s house was spared as two neighbouring properties were destroyed. Source: News Limited
CFA backs falsely accused fire couple
SPARE a thought for good Samaritans Brooke and Damon Bennett, who were wrongly labelled arsonists on Facebook after they stopped at a roadside blaze to call 000 and wait for firefighters.
A picture of the couple was taken from a neighbouring property and within an hour there were a string of posts on Facebook claiming the couple had started the blaze, on Racecourse Rd in Sunbury.
The pair copped death threats and abuse, prompting the CFA and police to confirm the Bennetts were not responsible for the fire.
The couple are now considering legal action.
Damon and Brooke Bennett with their daughter Lily. Source: News Limited
Council ‘cool centres’ to beat heat
THE string of sweltering temperatures has prompted one Melbourne council to consider opening 24-hour community ‘cool centres’ for the vulnerable
Darebin councillors unanimously supported Rucker Ward Greens Cr Trent McCarthy’s call for a report outlining the costs of establishing 24-hour community cool centres in at least three air-conditioned council premises during future heatwaves.
Darebin councillor Trent McCarthy provides some cool relief to the heatwave for six months pregnant Anastasia Kanjere on High Street in Northcote. Picture: Derrick den Hollander Source: News Limited
Trading ban puts mum out of work
A TECOMA mum is out of a job after she was ordered to stop operating her reptile show business from a Dandenong Ranges park.
Liz Eastwood has been running her Lizzy’s Lizzards reptile petting business from Emerald Lake Park during school and public holidays for the past five years, but was told by Cardinia Shire to stop because it was unfair to other traders.
Tecoma mum Liz Eastwood can no longer run her reptile business at Emerald Lake Park. Picture: Steve Tanner Source: News Limited
New station, but no lifts for six months
ELDERLY people and people with disabilities will be forced to navigate their way up a four-level ramp at the new Mitcham railway station for at least six months until lifts are installed.
Commuters expressed disappointment and anger after the new station opened on January 25 without lifts.
VicRoads project director Frank De Santis says the lifts will be installed by September, but locals say it’s not good enough.
Premier Denis Napthine at the opening of the Mitcham Railway Station upgrade. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Limited
Support for smoke-free CBD
A SMOKING ban in an area of the CBD has been strongly backed in Melbourne Council polling.
About four out of five people using The Causeway, which runs between Little Collins St and the Bourke Street Mall, think the council’s smoking ban trial is a good thing for the city.
The council’s People City portfolio chairman Cr Richard Foster is pleased the trial ban has been so well received.
Melbourne councillor Richard Foster. Source: News Limited
Call to punish ‘rogue’ developers
A COUPLE spent two years and thousands of dollars fighting to save trees — only to see their efforts ruined in one day when they were allegedly illegally cut down.
Elwood’s Michael and Amanda Story were fighting VCAT over a development behind their home, winning the protection of old-growth cyprus trees along their border.
But Mrs Story got a shock last Monday when builders allegedly chopped down one of the protected trees.
The couple are now calling for stronger punishment for developers who breach planning permit conditions.
Amanda Story spent two years and thousands of dollars fighting to save cyprus trees along her home’s border. Picture: Kylie Else Source: News Limited
Lucky escape at Moorabbin Airport
A PILOT was left shaken after losing a wheel and running off the runway while trying to land at Moorabbin Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the airport when the single-engine aircraft damaged a wing and lost a wheel at about 2.20pm.
The pilot, the sole occupant of the aircraft, had escaped relatively unscathed but was “quite shaken”, MFB spokeswoman Meg Rayner said.
A pilot had a close call at Moorabbin Airport this week. Source: News Limited
Boy sent home from hospital with broken bones
A CRANBOURNE mother is seething after her son was twice sent home from Casey Hospital with fractured bones.
Tina Blight says X-rays at the hospital on December 27 showed nothing wrong with her son Jai’s foot.
Two days later, her son still in pain, Ms Blight took him to Casey Medical Centre, where a second X-ray revealed the fracture.
Two years earlier the same string of events occurred when Jai, then two, fractured his elbow.
Ms Blight is calling after calling for more funding for the hospital.
Cranbourne resident Tina Blight calls for more funding for Casey Hospital after her son Jai was sent home twice with fractured bones. Photo: Susan Windmiller Source: News Limited
Jetski blitz on Port Phillip Bay
IRRESPONSIBLE jetski riders have been put on notice, with water police fining more than 200 people during a summer blitz on reckless riders.
Police launched a special operation on December 17 in response to a barrage of complaints about rogue jet skiers flouting speed limits and no-go zones, putting lives at risk.
Leading Sen-Constable Andrew Bell with Water Police on patrol in Port Phillip Bay last year. Picture: Lawrence Pinder Source: News Limited
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