Chelsea Heights boat factory fire

by Jodie Guest

Patterson River Fire Brigade members responded to a call at a Chelsea Heights boat factory from the South Eastern Treatment Plant.

Incident Controller, Fire Officer Andrew Turner, said the Patterson River crew was called to a small fire in some duct work at the treatment plant.

When the pager went off again as they were leaving the plant, they could see from the large plume of thick black smoke that the next job was not a small one.

The call to a factory in Hartwood Court, Chelsea Heights, which manufactured high speed racing boats came in at about 11.05am on Tuesday, 28 October.

Given the smoke plume, the flammable contents in the factory and the fact that three people fled from the building, Andrew said he immediately called for four pumpers and Frankston Teleboom to be responded to the scene.

As a precaution because of the smoke, people in nearby factories were evacuated but were able to return to work once the fire was brought under control.

Initial estimates have put the damage bill at $2 million, with investigations indicating that the cause was due to a build up of static electricity which ignited fuel that was being decanted from a boat’s fuel tank to containers.

The 20mx50m factory was destroyed, along with a second storey office. Eight boats and trailers worth between $100,000 and $400,000 each and a number of outboard motors and range of maintenance equipment was also lost in the fire that was fuelled by flammable liquids, resins and fibreglass.

He said 600 litres of foam concentrate was used to ensure the fire remained contained, and fire-fighters were on-scene until about 4pm.

He said the firefight was complicated by a small water main which necessitated a hose lay into Wells Rd, particularly once the Teleboom went into action. Dandenong Platform was later responded due to difficulty in safely undertaking fire fighting operations at the rear of the premises.

“It was a great job by everybody on scene; we all worked well together,” he said.

Forty firefighters and eleven appliances from Patterson River, Springvale, Edithvale, Frankston and Dandenong attended the fire.