Four firefighters from Greenvale CFA have been recognised for their bravery after an axe-wielding man set a fire truck alight and threatened them during a call-out at Meadow Heights last year.
Senior station officer Roy Griffiths, leading firefighters Francis Grech and Matthew Kent, and firefighter Brendan Edwards were returning from assisting the MFB at a car fire in Meadow Heights in August 2015 when they received a call about a structure fire in the same street. Witnesses to the fire reported seeing a man with an axe at the same address.
As they prepared to help their MFB counterparts tackle the fire, Mr Griffiths noticed a man standing in the driveway with a petrol can, holding an axe. The man poured petrol inside the front driver’s side of the CFA truck, setting it alight, then attacking the crew as members tried to put the new fire out.
Once police arrived, the CFA noticed another car on fire nearby, and extinguished this blaze too, while still watching out for the man. Mr Kent eventually helped police locate the man after noticing a figure behind a fence.
The four Greenvale firefighters were awarded the Chief Officer’s Unit Citation for Courage, with chief officer Steve Warrington presenting them with the award on August 3.
Officer-in-charge at Greenvale and district 14 operations officer David Harris said he could not be more proud of how the firefighters acted.
“It was a unique event. Our people [were] aggressively pursued while doing their job. In spite of that, they got the job done,” he said.
“They not only protected the community but each other. When one of our guys was attacked, the others didn’t hesitate [to help]. You don’t train for that … it was instinctive.”
