VANDALS SET FIRE AT FREO’S J SHED

 

 

There was again serious vandalism at Fremantle’s Arthur’s Head last night with idiots setting fire to the northern wall of the J Shed art studios.

No major damage was done but the power had to be cut off for safety reasons. It is just lucky that the fire brigade arrived early as otherwise the entire shed and some very important artworks could have been destroyed.

Although vandalism is frequent in the area there are still no CCTV cameras in the historic precinct.

Roel Loopers

FIRE AT FREMANTLE’S SHACKS HOLDEN

 

 

An electrical fire caused approximately $ 120,000 damage last night around 2am at the Shacks Holden car dealership at Queen Victoria Street in Fremantle.

I suppose that is a relatively good outcome when one considers all the cars in the showroom. Damage could have gone into the millions.

Roel Loopers

BUSH FIRE VOLUNTEERS CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

The 114^th WA Volunteer Fire Rescue Services Easter Championships are being held this weekend at the Gilbert Fraser reserve in North Fremantle. Go and have a look at it from 9am this easter Sunday morning. It’s fun to watch!

Bush firies from as far away as Port Hedland, Esperance and even Victoria are taking part and they deserve recognition and support for their tireless work to protect their communities.

The event has been held at the North Freo oval for over 40 years but I was not aware of it until I read a tiny one line somewhere on Thursday.

It needs to get a lot better promotion so that the local community comes out in droves to watch it. It’s rather pathetic that just under 100 spectators attend the events and they were family and a few supporters.

Roel Loopers

IS THERE LOGIC IN FREO MADNESS?

Bureaucracy-like car salesmen, lawyers, politicians, Dutchmen, journalists, and Roel Loopers, to name just a few-has a bad reputation.

I know one should never generalise so let me declare that I have often dealt with excellent public servants at the City of Fremantle and all levels of government.

Why am I writing this? Because I thought there must be some reason and order within City of Fremantle madness I do not understand. It’s probably not the fault of an officer but of the system and lack of rules.

Yesterday the two new fire extinguishers in the Roundhouse were tested and the contractor told me the only other devise he needed to test at Arthur Head for CoF was the one in the Gunners Cottage, which is the office of the Roundhouse volunteers.

This means that none of the artist’s studios at Captain’s and Mrs Trivett lanes have fire extinguishers installed although some of them have highly flammable goods in them. I don’t know a painter who would not have turpentine in their studio.

It seems illogical to me that the Roundhouse, that is highly unlikely to ever catch fire, needs to have two fire extinguishers, but highly flammable artist’s studios in tiny residential cottages that are also open to the public don’t have any.

If a fire broke out in one of the cottages it could very easily and rapidly spread to the others along the lane and all that heritage would be gone.

Roel Loopers

SMOKE HAZE BLANKETS FREMANTLE

The smoke haze over Fremantle was not a very pretty sight at all until the Fremantle Doctor blew it away after midday. It was quite smelly and unpleasant as well, so no wonder I’ve got a headache.

Roel Loopers

HOUSE FIRE IN SOUTH FREMANTLE

A house fire broke out around 3 pm today in Jenkins Street, near the corner of Chester Street in South Fremantle. Big plumes of smoke filled the sky and school kids were the first spectators.

The fire brigade was there quick smart, so now hoping for the owners/occupiers that not too much damage has been done.

Roel Loopers

FIRE AT OLD FREMANTLE PANEL BEATERS

 

A fire that broke out last evening at 6.30 at the long-established Fairway Panel Beaters at South Terrace, Fremantle has done substantial damage to the building. Local residents had to be evacuated because of toxic fumes and asbestos fears.

The business has been owned by brothers Brian and Robert Richardson for 46 years, so it is quite a shock to the family.

Workers turned up this morning not knowing if they still had a job, but the general sentiment was that it is great no one was hurt and the business can be rebuilt. I wish them well!

Roel Loopers

 

INCONSIDERATE FIRE TEST IN WEST END

 

That was a rather interesting fire emergency test at the new MSC building in Cliff Street this morning, when men shot huge sprays of water in the air from the roof of the building, and the strong wind blowing it all over High Street and inside Chalkys cafe. Lucky no one sat at the outside tables or they would have got drenched.

Barista Keith yelled out to them to stop it and they finally did, after a few pedestrians got a good soaking.

I believe it was very inconsiderate and lazy as they could have alerted the cafe and stopped pedestrian traffic during the test. I hope no one at No 1 Little High Street left their windows or balcony doors open.

Roel Loopers

HUGE FIRE AT LIBERAL POLITICIAN MATTHEW HANSSEN’S PROPERTY

 

A large fire broke out at the property of Liberal party politician Matthew Hanssen this morning on the corner of Central Avenue and South Street in Beaconsfield. The building contains Mr Hanssen’s home, the Hanssen computer business and the Zedz fish&chips shop.

Matthew told me he had no idea how the blaze started but that the property is insured.

It is not a very good start of the year for Matthew Hanssen who stood for federal parliament against Melissa Parke and for state parliament against Simone McGurk. He also contested the Mayor of Fremantle election two years ago.

I feel very sorry for Matthew and the business operators as this is one of the worst starts of the year imaginable.

Roel Loopers

Photos COPYRIGHT Roel Loopers/ROEL.COM.AU 

FIRE AT FREMANTLE PORT

Photos copyright Roel Loopers-ROEL.COM.AU

A large fire is happening right now on Rous Head at Fremantle port where 60 fire fighters are battling a blaze at Northport Marine Services. First reports said it was on a boat but it appears to be bigger than that with smoke coming out of a large building as we could observe from the North Mole.

Thirteen fore appliances from Fremantle, Murdoch, Success, Hope Valley, Joondalup, Canning Vale, Gosnells, Daglish and Jandakot are on the scene.

Roel Loopers