UPDATE: A Country Fire Authority truck left the Bendigo Easter Festival gala parade midway through to attend a Long Gully house fire on Sunday afternoon.
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CFA Incident Controller Chris Jacobsen said a call came through for the fire which was in the Bendigo truck’s response area.
“The truck got in contact with the parade marshals to exit the parade. If (the crew and marshals) believed it was too dangerous to exit, they would have called for immediate (back-up) support,” he said.
Brigades in Golden Square, Kangaroo Flat, Junortoun and Huntly were also on call.
“Council have an emergency management team that to look after the safety of the parade and parade-goers,” Mr Jacobsen said.
“The arrangement for public safety was to drive to the end (of the parade route) or find marshals who can allow them to leave. Public safety remains paramount. If it was too dangerous to leave, we would have called immediate support.”
EARLIER: ONLOOKERS at the Bendigo Easter gala parade were shocked when a firetruck flew through the parade route on its way to a call-out.
The truck tooted a van leading the parade to get out of its way on Bridge Street on Sunday afternoon.
Families lined both sides of the road.
Bystander Tim Biggin said people initially thought the truck was part of the procession.
“The truck came through a lot faster than the others in the parade,” he said.
“Everyone thought it was part of the parade and we were surprised that it kept going.”
Doug Gardiner said people were shocked.
“At first we didn’t know if it was part of the parade,” he said.
“The lead car in the parade announced that it was the real deal.
“It was all quite dramatic.”
More to come
