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Whitehorse News - January 2023
The incredible volunteers at VICSES (Victorian State Emergency Service) Whitehorse Unit have been supporting the local community for almost 40 years.
VICSES is the response agency in Victoria for floods, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides. The Whitehorse Unit, based in Box Hill South, covers all of Whitehorse as well as the northern part of the City of Boroondara. There are currently 85 members, all of whom are volunteers, and the unit is one of the largest and busiest in Victoria.
In the last year, volunteers at VICSES Whitehorse Unit have undertaken 1,260 Requests for Assistance, including calls from the community and neighbouring SES units. This included 841 calls relating to downed trees, 204 for damaged buildings, 103 for flood-related incidents and 46 assisting Victoria Police. The major tree damage in the VICSES Whitehorse area relates to trees on roads, vehicles, powerlines, footpaths, garages, and buildings. Calls to assist police include search and rescue operations, mainly looking for missing persons, throughout the Whitehorse Unit response area and other areas as required.
VICSES Whitehorse Unit was involved in two significant local incidents in the past 18 months. In August 2021, they assisted with the evacuation of a 35-storey building in Box Hill, following a pipe failure which flooded the basement and took out the power to the entire building, causing emergency lights to fail.
In December 2021, volunteers helped to mitigate an incident at a nursing home in Blackburn following a power outage caused by a tree falling on nearby powerlines. The Whitehorse Unit established an Incident Control Point, installed lighting rigs throughout the building, set up power packs in the kitchen to prevent food spoilage and used portable power packs to maintain mattresses (which require power to remain inflated) for approximately 90 vulnerable residents.
“I am particularly proud of the Whitehorse Unit’s ability to not only respond to local incidents, but to also provide volunteers who gave assistance outside of our local area,” said Local Unit Controller Graeme Stanley.
Volunteers from the VICSES Whitehorse Unit have been on a number of recent deployments and are currently active at Shepparton and Echuca. Past deployments have included the 2019 bushfires, 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, 2020 storm event in the Dandenong Ranges, cyclone relief efforts last year in Western Australia, and flood events in New South Wales.
VICSES Whitehorse Unit is funded by state government grant and contributions from Council, as well as donations from local businesses and generous community members. Whitehorse City Council is currently advocating to the state government for renewal of the Unit’s operations centre, garages and workshop.
VICSES Whitehorse Unit is developing plans for the new space. The provision of SES facilities is the responsibility of the state government. In Whitehorse, Council provides the land for the facility. We also currently allow access to shared facilities at the Council Operations Centre, which is located very close to the VICSES Whitehorse Unit in Box Hill South. A new facility will allow VICSES Whitehorse Unit to continue to provide a high level of support to the community, and enable the dedicated volunteers to work and train in a more modern and safe environment.
For more information about the VICSES Whitehorse Unit, digital resources on how to prepare for storm and flood events, and information on how to register your interest to volunteer and make a donation, visit the VICSES Whitehorse Unit website
