Emergency services turn out to a lucky escape

EMERGENCY services from throughout the Corner Inlet district turned out in force on Wednesday February 14, 2024 in response to a report of two people trapped in their car after it ran off the Meeniyan-Promontory Road near Fish Creek.

As it turned out, the two people and their Border Collie dog all had a lucky escape, and though shaken up by the accident they were essentially unharmed after their vehicle left the road and plunged down a steep embankment into Battery Creek.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said the incident occurred just west of the Battery Creek Reservoir access road, some five kilometres south-east of Fish Creek township, at about 3.15 pm.

The emergency services received notification shortly after, at about 3.24 pm.

As well as the Victoria Police, three Ambulance Victoria vehicles attended, along with local Country Fire Authority (CFA) brigades, including Fish Creek and District CFA Fire and Rescue, Foster Fire Brigade and Meeniyan/Stony Creek Fire Brigade.

Four CFA appliances were also brought to the scene, including three tankers, one from each brigade, along with the Foster CFA’s forward command vehicle.

A CFA brigade member described the car in the incident as “a small hatchback” and said that it had come to a halt with its front end in the water of Battery Creek and its back wheels remaining on the bank.

The Victoria Police spokesperson said that the people involved in the accident were a man and a woman from Melbourne and both were thought to be about 30 years of age.

They managed to extricate themselves and their pet from the vehicle via the rear hatch, however they were experiencing a lot of trouble in climbing back up the embankment because of its height and severity.

The degree of difficulty was compounded even more by dense blackberry growth.

Fish Creek and District CFA Fire and Rescue members were assisted by personnel from the other brigades to employ their high-angle equipment to safely escort the people and the dog back up to road level.

Ambulance Victoria officers brought the group of three into Foster, where the people were assessed and passed as well and very fortunate at the South Gippsland Hospital, while their dog’s health status was also checked and found to be “quite okay”.

The Victoria Police spokesperson said the high level of response by the emergency services was due to the possibility that the people could have been really trapped in their vehicle and that they may have sustained serious injuries.

“Everyone who was involved in the rescue was glad that the incident ended so well,” they said.

The CFA brigade member observed that the people’s dog had greeted her rescuers with “a smiling face and a wagging tail” and that she had seemed to be “unfazed” by the incident

The car did however sustain some damage and was later dragged up the embankment and removed from the scene.

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