General News
14 February, 2023
Fire leads to drug haul
A GOOD samaritan was airlifted to hospital last week after attending a fire at a neighbouring property in Camperdown.
A GOOD samaritan was airlifted to hospital last week after attending a fire at a neighbouring property in Camperdown.
The fire at a Manifold Street property broke out at about 6.15pm on Tuesday.
A large amount of cannabis plants was located at the property, with police investigating the hydroponic set-up within the vacant house.
Warrnambool CIU detective acting sergeant Derek Verity said the house had been divided into three growing rooms and a drying room.
He said 70 to 80 cannabis plants were located at the property with an estimated value of $30,000 to $50,000.
Det. Act Sgt Verity said enquiries were ongoing into the operation.
“There will be multiple different enquiries,” he said.
“It would take multiple people and skills to set it up.
“It is very unusual for this area.”
The hydroponic set-up included a lights and watering system, with the offenders bypassing the electrical system to steal power.
District 6 commander Dan Condon commended the quick response of CFA units who attended the blaze.
“The crews responded brilliantly, they were on scene in minutes,” he said.
“They extinguished the fire quickly.
“A good samaritan who lives next door has tried to help out and suffered a cardiac arrest. The crews did CPR on scene.
“They did an unbelievably good job putting the fire out and administering CPR.”
Commander Condon said multiple units were called to the fire including Camperdown and Weerite.
“I can’t sing the praises enough of the quick response of incident controller Andrew Smith and all of the crews,” he said.
The man was transferred via road ambulance to the Camperdown Showgrounds before being transported to hospital via air ambulance.
An Ambulance Victoria media spokesperson said Ambulance Victoria was called to a report of an incident in Camperdown just before 6.25pm.
“Paramedics treated a man in his 60s at the scene for a medical episode,” the spokesperson said.
“He was flown by air ambulance to Geelong Hospital in a stable condition.”
Camperdown Police Senior Sergeant Bill Caldow said police were at the property processing the scene last Wednesday.
“There is a very large number of cannabis plants of varying maturity,” he said.
“The property was empty at the time.”
Snr Sgt Caldow called on members of the public who might be suspicious of a property in their neighbourhood to make contact with police or CrimeStoppers.
He said all calls can be made anonymously by contacting CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.