By Brendan Rees
An elderly Berwick couple were left shaken when the ceiling of their kitchen collapsed dramatically on Friday morning, 1 May.
The couple, aged in their 70s, had been asleep when they heard a loud bang about 4.30am.
Narre Warren State Emergency Service volunteers were called to the Inkerman Street home shortly after where they discovered a large portion of the kitchen ceiling – estimated to be about two metres long – had collapsed after a water main pipe had burst.
SES crew leader Dianne Markham said live light fittings had been “dangling” from the ceiling with large pieces of plaster also strewn across the kitchen bench and floor tiles.
“They (occupants) heard a loud bang during the night, and they thought someone had broken in and they then went into their kitchen a big piece of plaster had dropped,” she said of the single-storey home.
“They could hear a hissing sound where they water was coming through the pipe and spraying everywhere.”
It’s not known what exactly caused the pipe to burst but Ms Markham believed it may have been due a crack in the pipe or brought on by cold temperatures, which may have moved the rafters, putting tension on the pipes.
Luckily however, the couple were not injured and were able to turn the water main off before the SES crew arrived.
Some of plaster was quite sodden with air ducts also exposed and hanging from the ceiling, Ms Markham said.
“We cleaned up around the outside of the hole just to make sure nothing else fell on them,” she said, which took about 20 minutes.
She added the couple had spoken to their insurance who had arranged for someone to inspect the damage.
Ms Markham said the female occupant was “rather glad” the large bang sound was the ceiling falling and not an intruder.
Meanwhile, Victorians are getting an early taste of winter, with wild weather moving across the state with a 12C maximum forecast for Melbourne on Friday, 1 May.
