A trip to Yea

I had planned to go for a run last night when the cool change came in. It cooled down quite a lot and felt very pleasant outside about 10pm but I had voluntered for a Fire Brigade errand early this morning.

Seven vehicles from the local area (6 trucks and 1 four-wheel drive) had been sent urgently to Yea yesterday for a fire. The crews on the trucks had been working all night and were in no condition to drive home today. Six other truck drivers and myself met at Dandenong Fire Station this morning at 5:30am for a two hour bus trip to Yea to bring the vehicles home.

I usually work afternoon shifts so was not used to such a early start. I tried to catch some sleep on the bus but the movement wasn't working for me. As we got closer to Yea we noticed a lot of the grasslands near the road had been burnt out. There was places where the fire had gotten very close to houses and we could see where the fire had jumped the Melba Hwy. We arrived at a busy staging area at the Yea Football Oval at approximately 7:00am.

From there we had some breakfast put on by the local Red Cross and waited for our trucks to come in off the fire line.

I always find Staging Areas interesting. You see firefighters and trucks from near and a far, some from places I have never heard of. The crews that were coming in from the night shift looked very tired and dirty. I was told that they had a very busy night.

Our trucks came in around 9am. The night shift crews went for breakfast before getting on their bus. We had a quick look over the trucks before setting off for home.

We tried to stick together for the trip home but keeping seven vehicles in convoy formation is no easy trick. Especially once we hit surburbia with traffic lights and road works it was nearly impossible.

The crew bus beat us back to Dandenong at around 11am. We where shortly behind them. I had Carrum Downs tanker which is pictured here below.

I am back home now. No time at all for a run as I have to go to work tonight. Maybe after work or in the morning for sure.