More than 25 firefighters spent six hours tackling a hazardous-material incident in Werribee late last month.
Wyndham Vale CFA’s Lieutenant Andrew Ludeman said crews were called to the rear of Presidents Park about 4pm on Sunday, July 26.
He said seven fire trucks were needed to fight the chemical blaze, which began as an illegal rubbish burn-off.
“We didn’t know what was on fire at the time, but the smoke was definitely blacker than normal,” Mr Ludeman said.
The Environment Protection Authority was called in once unidentified chemicals were discovered and firefighters were instructed to use breathing equipment.
Mr Ludeman said the blaze, which was contained to a relatively small area, could have been a lot worse.
A resident who lives near the site of the
fire said she was worried about her family’s health. “There were huge plumes of smoke all over the place,” the resident, who did not want to be named, said.
“We didn’t know it was anything really dangerous until the firefighters told us that it was chemicals. It’s pretty scary to think that we could have breathed some of that in.
‘‘I don’t want my kids to get sick just because someone couldn’t be bothered taking their rubbish to the tip. Why should we suffer just because they’re lazy?”
The blaze was extinguished about 10pm.
A Werribee police spokesman said investigations were continuing.
