By Angus Delaney and Lachlan Abbott
About 100 campers near Cape Otway awoke to a nightmare on Wednesday, having been left stranded by a raging bushfire that had cut off their escape route.
The blaze on Blanket Bay Road, just north-west of the Cape Otway Lighthouse, sparked evacuations and an emergency warning just before 3am.
CFA and Forest Fire Management Victoria crews worked from the early hours of Wednesday morning to protect campers in Cape Otway from a bushfire.Credit: Wye River CFA/Facebook
About 7am, holidaymakers and residents in the area were told to find shelter – as it was too late to leave. But by 8.14am the warnings were downgraded, and firefighters later contained the 14-hectare fire in Victoria’s south-west.
On Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the incident control centre in Colac said fire crews had started to escort stranded campers out of the Blanket Bay campground.
Forest Fire Management Victoria chief fire officer Chris Hardman said the blaze had isolated about 100 campers at the site.
Twenty-two hikers on the Great Ocean Walk were also evacuated to the Cape Otway Lightstation. Hardman told ABC Radio Melbourne another 140 people fled to a relief hub at the Apollo Bay Community Centre.
“There are some very stiff winds in that part of the world, and the Otways has really had a rainfall deficit over the last 19 months,” he said.
Frank Fotinas from campground Bimbi Park said he was alerted to the fire about 2am on Wednesday. By 3am, the message was to evacuate.
“The guests were fantastic. I mean we had everyone out in under an hour, which was just super,” Fotinas said.
“The only thing is the easterly winds, and they’re coming directly to us. That’s the thing that we’re a bit concerned about. “Me and my son and a couple of our neighbours are here at Bimbi Park … we won’t leave until, sort of until the last minute.”
Shortly before 4pm, a watch-and-act warning for Glenaire, Hordern Vale and Cape Otway told those in the area to monitor conditions as they were changing.
“Firefighters are working to fully extinguish this fire,” the message said.
The blaze in the Great Otway National Park comes after the bushfire in the Grampians National Park was contained on Monday. The blaze scorched more than 76,000 hectares, destroying four homes and 40 outbuildings in surrounding towns.
CFA incident controller Peter West said: “Coinciding with what is typically the busiest season for tourism in the area, the fire has resulted in considerable hardships and financial losses for local businesses and communities.”
Halls Gap, a popular tourist town at the foot of the Grampians, reopened to visitors from 10am on Wednesday. Unaffected parts of the national park will reopen from 9am on Friday.
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