SYSTEMATIC DECONTAMINATION OF ASH IN ROOF
CAVITIES
From The Coalface by Tom Doig:
A Thick Gluey Goo
“Michelle’s dog Chooch became very ill within 2 days of the start of
the fire. Chooch had a build up of ash in her fur and every night at
dusk, as it became dewy, the moisture turned the ash into a
caustic alkaline paste. It was sticky, like superglue and really hard
to remove. The coal ash paste caused irritation all over Chooch’s
body and when she tried to lick it off, she swallowed it. This made
her intestines swell up until she started bleeding internally.”
The Vet did a number of tests, which showed the dog had
chemicals in her system that she couldn’t have ingested in an
ordinary back yard. These included traces of chemical retardant
that was being sprayed on the Hazelwood fire a few metres away
from Michelle’s house.
Whenever it rained, Michelle noticed that there was a fine residue
in the ash on the pavement - a bit like pollen except instead of
being yellow, it was bright pink. At the same time, the coal ash
paste that nearly killed Chooch had also stuck to their tiles, and
was eating through the canopy in the back garden. It was in their
trees too, and when it rained a thick gluey goo would drip slowly
from the branches onto the lawn.
There still has not been a systematic decontamination of the roof cavities of affected houses which contain ash after the Hazelwood Mine Fire.

There is also not a reporting of the composition of the ash. Important            information about the composition of the ash sitting in the roof                        cavities has not been available.