By Oliver Lees
A Melton family is feeling grateful they escaped unscathed after a fire broke out in the roof of their home on Station Road earlier this week.
On February 28, Star Weekly reported that emergency services had attended to the property fire before 9am, where they were able to establish a perimeter and contain the blaze.
Melton resident Shannon Robinson said her mother, two twin boys aged 10 and another child aged 15 were inside the home when the fire broke out.
“[Her mother] had just dropped one of my siblings to school, and she’d arrived back to take the other one,” Ms Robinson said.
“She had no idea that the roof was smoking. There were three men on the street, they were screaming out for her to get out of the house.
Once aware of the fire, Ms Robinson’s mum rounded up the children in the house and vacated the building.
Ms Robinson said if it weren’t for the alertness of those men passing by the building, who also called emergency services, the situation could have been much worse.
Despite the fire brigade arriving shortly after, there was substantial damage to the property.
The single storey rental property had parts of the roof cave in bedrooms and shared living spaces.
Ms Robinson said there had been an outpouring of community support following the fire, including one couple who donated some money to her family.
“We ended up using the money to get us dinner,” she said.
“We’re very lucky, if it had happened at night time, all four of them could have been gone.
“It was so scary, but we feel lucky.”
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) website recommends that all householders develop a home fire escape plan.
“Your plan should include two ways to escape each room of the house, and a designated safe meeting point, such as the letterbox.”
