Incident: 30 appliances fight large Golf Club Fire in Yering, Vic

On October 16, 2023, Coldstream Station responded to a direct alarm at the Eastern Golf Club, located at 215 Victoria Road in Yering. The initial call was a direct alarm, with Coldstream Pumper responding within four minutes. Initial reports from Firecom indicated no signs of fire; however, within two minutes, updated information confirmed the evacuation of 12 staff members and the presence of a fire in a storeroom.

Upon arrival, crews were met with substantial smoke issuing from the roof and entrance, with a fire driven by high winds.

As the BA team prepared to enter, crews deployed a 65mm hose reduced to 38mm with a divider at the open doorway to deliver water directly to the fire. External crews observed the fire’s extension into the ceiling space and the BA team transitioned from an internal offensive attack to a defensive external operation.

A sitrep was passed declaring the fire ‘not yet under control,’ and a request was made for additional support, including a Teleboom Aerial, Hoselayer, additional Pumpers, Rehabilitation (Rehab) units, and support for Breathing Apparatus (BA) operations. The District also dispatched two Commanders to augment operational coordination.

The fire started at the western end of the building, where golf buggies and carts were stored. It’s worth noting that the structure, constructed in 2011, was equipped with three double-head milcocks. Unfortunately, these milcocks were situated within the building, rendering them inaccessible before the fire took hold.

Additionally, the structure did not have a fire-fighting reticulation system in place. Consequently, the initial firefighting efforts relied on drawing water from the two 36,000-liter tanks. These tanks were depleted during the early stages of the operation and were situated to the west of the building, approximately 70 metres from the first arriving fire appliance on the scene.

Two aerial appliances were responded and were supplied with water via a 100mm hose lay originating from two on-site dams located along the driveway. The first dam, situated at a distance of 650 metres, supplied water to Teleboom 27 (Nunawading), while the second dam, located 850 metres away, facilitated the operation of Ladder Platform 87 (Dandenong).

Throughout the firefighting operation, a complete ring main was established, employing 65mm hoses and shutoff dividers. This configuration enabled the placement of 38mm hose lines around the building, with each line spaced approximately every 30 to 60 metres.

The fire was successfully brought under control around 6 p.m. Operations persisted throughout the night, and crews were relieved at 7 p.m, midnight, and 7 a.m. At 9 a.m., an excavator arrived on scene to work with firefighters until around 14:30 hours to extinguish the last remaining hotspots. A stop was placed at 9 a.m. the following day.

Photos: Coldstream CFA, Lillydale CFA, Yerring CFA, Warrandyte CFA.

Information was supplied by the captain of Coldstream CFA. “I would like to thank the staff from Eastern Golf for their professionalism in ensuring that all staff and visitors had evacuated from the premises and to pass details on as they came to hand to FireComm and to the stations and firefighters that worked so hard on the day, into the night, and the following day. The professionalism shown with support and added advice was appreciated. We work as one for the common goal.”