‘Investigations are still ongoing’: State Control Centre treating Dereel bushfire as suspicious

A bushfire north west of Geelong is being treated as suspicious by the State Control Centre.

The State Control Centre is treating the Dereel bushfire as suspicious Station. Picture: Tim Carrafa

A bushfire northwest of Geelong is currently being treated by Victoria’s primary emergency management control centre as suspicious.

The fire, which started about 6.30pm on Wednesday near small town of Dereel, destroyed one building.

A spokesman for the State Control Centre said on Thursday “while the Dereel fire is currently being treated as suspicious, investigations are still ongoing.”

“One out building has been lost in the fire and 117 properties are believed to have been saved,” they said.

“The fire is now under control.”

Despite this, a Victoria Police spokesman said they are not treating the fire as suspicious.

It was reported earlier on Thursday firefighters had brought a bushfire near Dereel under control overnight as crews battled hot and windy conditions.

A catastrophic warning for the fire, which forced residents to evacuate their homes on Wednesday night, was downgraded on Thursday morning to a watch and act alert.

Residents are urged to monitor the bushfire and stay close to a building where they can shelter safely, as conditions could suddenly change.

Emergency services said the fire travelled south before heading east towards Colac-Ballarat Rd.

More than 40 fire units were at the scene, about 50km north west of Bannockburn.

Fire crews battled extreme conditions on Wednesday as the mercury reached 37C and wind gusts of up of 80km/h hammered the region.

A relief centre was set up in Bannockburn for those needing to evacuate, which closed on Thursday morning.

Colac-Ballarat Rd has reopened after the bushfire forced the main road to close.

Ferrers Rd has also reopened but Swamp Rd remains closed due to hazardous trees.

Dereel has a population of about 530 people, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In 2017, a grassfire which caused a CFA tanker to catch fire put the town on high alert.

In the state’s west, more than 200 vehicles were fighting several out of control bushfires between Beaufort and Ararat, some of which have been raging for days.

Conditions are set to ease on Thursday, with Geelong to reach a top of 27C.

Originally published as ‘Investigations are still ongoing’: State Control Centre treating Dereel bushfire as suspicious