THE driver of a City of Kingston recycling truck made a quick detour to Regents Park in Aspendale when he noticed smoke billowing from the rear of his truck, 12.17pm, Tuesday 21 November.
Arriving in the car park he dumped his load of burning recyclables before calling fire officers. Three Country Fire Authority vehicles from Edithvale and one from Patterson River arrived within minutes. They took an hour to extinguish the fire.
Edithvale CFA captain Graham Fountain said the driver doing his normal round “did the right thing” in finding a vacant site away from houses or people.
“He saved his truck and went somewhere safe to dump his load, so full credit to the driver,” he said.
The cause of the fire is unknown but there “must have been something flammable in the load,” Captain Fountain said.
“Residents should be aware not to put anything flammable in their rubbish.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 22 November 2017
