Victorian firies save 550 properties at Keilor

More than 500 properties have been saved by fire crews fighting a bushfire at Keilor in suburban Melbourne.

A member of the CFA walks past a destroyed house after a fast moving bushfire took out at least 3 homes in the Melbourne north east suburb of Warrandyte, Monday Feb. 10, 2014. A total fire ban is in place across Victoria during the heat wave temperatures

A member of the CFA walks past a destroyed house after a fast moving bushfire in north Melbourne (AAP)

Firefighters saved more than 500 properties in the Melbourne suburb of Keilor as they worked to control a large bush and scrub fire.

More than 100 firefighters and 30 trucks had been battling the blaze near Melbourne Airport, which has now been controlled.

MFB assistant chief officer Rob Purcell said they managed to save 550 assets, including the Melbourne Airport golf club, in extremely hot and windy conditions.

"It was very hard for us to initially get that fire to stop due to the fact the winds were blowing up towards the airport," Mr Purcell told ABC radio on Monday.

"But we had great firefighters who did a brilliant job in saving a huge amount of assets including the Penleigh and Essendon Grammar sporting complex and a large amount of factories along the eastern boundary.

"In total, there was some 550 assets around the boundary of the fire that we managed to save."

The fire affected almost 85 hectares of land in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

Just one truck remains on the scene after the joint effort by the MFB, CFA and Department of Environment and Primary Industries.


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AAP


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