Wind change may force fire evacuation
Wind change may force fire evacuation
RESIDENTS close to a bushfire east of Melbourne are ready to evacuate, with the fire 1.5km from homes. Now covering 800ha, it is burning nine km southeast of Gembrook, around 80km from Melbourne, after breaking out yesterday in the Bunyip State Park. A community meeting was held this afternoon at the Tonimbuk Hall, with local residents given updates on the situation. Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) fire management officer Paul Brockhoff said residents have been asked to remain alert and stay tuned to local radio stations.
"There may be sudden changes to weather conditions. Locals are also asked to activate their fire plans and if necessary their bushfire survival plans as well," Mr Brockhoff said to Network Ten. People were told at the meeting to decide as soon as possible whether they wanted to stay in the area or leave. Reports of suspicious activity in the area are also being investigated. "I think (with) the conditions in which the fire started ... we're currently treating that as suspicious," Mr Brockhoff said. Firefighters have formed a line along the Gembrook-Tonimbuk Road, but because of the difficult terrain, the only way to fight it is by waterbombing. A change in wind direction is expected early this evening, with strong gusts also expected. The Bureau of Meteorology had warned of winds of up to 90km/h. Senior forecaster Dean Stewart said a wind change should come early this evening, changing from a northwesterly to westerly direction. Around 5mm of rain is forecast for the area overnight. Tonimbuk local David Bodi said the biggest thing was what the wind change would do. "If we can get a fair bit of rain out of it, we haven't got any problems," Mr Bodi said. "But we might not get any rain ... "Out here, there are that many hills the wind can be totally different to what's forecast." Incident controller Rocky Barca said the fire was in a heavily forested area. "The fire has grown in the last couple of days to a size of about 800ha, and it is fanned by northwesterly winds ... we are working fairly hard to try and contain it," Mr Barca told ABC Radio. Two hundred personnel from both the DSE and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) are at the blaze, with 50 fire trucks and firefighting aircraft also providing assistance. As yet there have been no property losses. Police have closed several roads, shutting down the intersections of Tynong North Road and Camp Road and Tynong North Road and Luptons Track. Another meeting will be held at 10.30am (AEST) tomorrow at Tonimbuk Hall to update residents about the fire.
Bron: Herald Sun
RESIDENTS close to a bushfire east of Melbourne are ready to evacuate, with the fire 1.5km from homes. Now covering 800ha, it is burning nine km southeast of Gembrook, around 80km from Melbourne, after breaking out yesterday in the Bunyip State Park. A community meeting was held this afternoon at the Tonimbuk Hall, with local residents given updates on the situation. Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) fire management officer Paul Brockhoff said residents have been asked to remain alert and stay tuned to local radio stations.
"There may be sudden changes to weather conditions. Locals are also asked to activate their fire plans and if necessary their bushfire survival plans as well," Mr Brockhoff said to Network Ten. People were told at the meeting to decide as soon as possible whether they wanted to stay in the area or leave. Reports of suspicious activity in the area are also being investigated. "I think (with) the conditions in which the fire started ... we're currently treating that as suspicious," Mr Brockhoff said. Firefighters have formed a line along the Gembrook-Tonimbuk Road, but because of the difficult terrain, the only way to fight it is by waterbombing. A change in wind direction is expected early this evening, with strong gusts also expected. The Bureau of Meteorology had warned of winds of up to 90km/h. Senior forecaster Dean Stewart said a wind change should come early this evening, changing from a northwesterly to westerly direction. Around 5mm of rain is forecast for the area overnight. Tonimbuk local David Bodi said the biggest thing was what the wind change would do. "If we can get a fair bit of rain out of it, we haven't got any problems," Mr Bodi said. "But we might not get any rain ... "Out here, there are that many hills the wind can be totally different to what's forecast." Incident controller Rocky Barca said the fire was in a heavily forested area. "The fire has grown in the last couple of days to a size of about 800ha, and it is fanned by northwesterly winds ... we are working fairly hard to try and contain it," Mr Barca told ABC Radio. Two hundred personnel from both the DSE and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) are at the blaze, with 50 fire trucks and firefighting aircraft also providing assistance. As yet there have been no property losses. Police have closed several roads, shutting down the intersections of Tynong North Road and Camp Road and Tynong North Road and Luptons Track. Another meeting will be held at 10.30am (AEST) tomorrow at Tonimbuk Hall to update residents about the fire.
Bron: Herald Sun
Every cloud has a silver lining
Rain helps weary firefighters
FIREFIGHTERS have scaled back efforts at a bushfire in state forest southeast of Melbourne as overnight rain prevented it spreading. More than 10mm of rain has fallen in the area of the fire, which has burnt up to 800 ha in the Bunyip State Park, about 9km southeast of Gembrook. But while the rain has stopped the fire spreading, it is not under control yet. Incident Controller Rocky Barca said work still needed to be done to build containment lines around the fire. "We haven't called the fire contained because there is still a fair amount of work to do to track the edge of the fire," he said. "The fire has really died down and the cooler conditions prevented the spread of the fire."
About 40 Department of Sustainability and Environment and Country Fire Authority members remain at the scene patrolling the fire front and surrounding areas. Firefighters numbers have been reduced from about 200 yesterday, as rain stopped the fire spreading but also caused steep terrain to become muddied and too hazardous for trucks to access, Mr Barca said. "The rain is a blessing but also a curse," he said. The fire is continuing to burn in a slight southerly, but more easterly direction, he said. But properties which were just 1.5km from the fire yesterday should now be in the clear, he said.
The Bureau of Meteorology's forecast for more rain over the next few days was good news and it is unlikely firefighters numbers would be boosted again, Mr Barca said.
A community meeting scheduled for 10.30am (AEST) today will still go ahead at the Tonimbuk Hall to update residents on the fire situation. Firefighters and police will continue to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke out on Friday and is being treated as suspicious.
Bron: Herald Sun
FIREFIGHTERS have scaled back efforts at a bushfire in state forest southeast of Melbourne as overnight rain prevented it spreading. More than 10mm of rain has fallen in the area of the fire, which has burnt up to 800 ha in the Bunyip State Park, about 9km southeast of Gembrook. But while the rain has stopped the fire spreading, it is not under control yet. Incident Controller Rocky Barca said work still needed to be done to build containment lines around the fire. "We haven't called the fire contained because there is still a fair amount of work to do to track the edge of the fire," he said. "The fire has really died down and the cooler conditions prevented the spread of the fire."
About 40 Department of Sustainability and Environment and Country Fire Authority members remain at the scene patrolling the fire front and surrounding areas. Firefighters numbers have been reduced from about 200 yesterday, as rain stopped the fire spreading but also caused steep terrain to become muddied and too hazardous for trucks to access, Mr Barca said. "The rain is a blessing but also a curse," he said. The fire is continuing to burn in a slight southerly, but more easterly direction, he said. But properties which were just 1.5km from the fire yesterday should now be in the clear, he said.
The Bureau of Meteorology's forecast for more rain over the next few days was good news and it is unlikely firefighters numbers would be boosted again, Mr Barca said.
A community meeting scheduled for 10.30am (AEST) today will still go ahead at the Tonimbuk Hall to update residents on the fire situation. Firefighters and police will continue to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke out on Friday and is being treated as suspicious.
Bron: Herald Sun
Every cloud has a silver lining
