Fire chief to the defence of catastrophe warning

RESIDENTS ignored alerts on a day of extreme temperatures.

THE NSW fire chief has strongly defended the new catastrophic fire warning as rural mayors warned there was mass confusion over the national top category of fire alert.

Large swaths of NSW and Victoria were placed on a "code red" catastrophic warning yesterday. But the vast majority of residents in towns across northern Victoria, the Wimmera and the NSW Riverina - all subject to the warning - ignored recommendations to leave their properties despite authorities warning that if fires threatened towns it would be unsafe to stay at their homes.

Temperatures reached almost 44C in parts of northern Victoria and gusty northwesterly winds pummelled the towns of Bendigo, Shepparton, Echuca, Wangaratta and Wodonga, all on code red.

In NSW, the northern, southern and eastern Riverina was placed on a catastrophic alert yesterday, together with areas of the state's southwest.

The national catastrophic category of fire alert was introduced late last year in response to the Black Saturday fires in Victoria, which killed 173 people.

Following criticism from former NSW fire chief Phil Koperberg that the catastrophic warning could cause unnecessary panic, NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons yesterday described the new warning system as a "tremendous leap forward".

"The stark message that came out of that terrible tragedy in Victoria is the need for simple language to explain to people what the risk is based on what we know," Mr Fitzsimmons said.

"I make no apology for being blunt in advising communities of their risk when it comes to fire and associated fire weather."

The mayors of Deniliquin, Griffith and Young in the NSW Riverina region and Bendigo in Victoria - none of which had fires burning close by yesterday - said there had been no move by residents to leave their homes and warned of widespread confusion over the catastrophic warning.

The debate about the merits of the catastrophic rating came as firefighters tamed a bushfire that had been burning out of control in southeastern Victoria last night, threatening the townships of Cann River and Lower Tonghi.

The forest fire in the Croajingolong National Park in the state's Gippsland region jumped containment lines yesterday afternoon but the fire warning was downgraded to "watch and act" about 7pm. The efforts of firefighters were made difficult by an "incredibly volatile" cold front that moved through Victoria late yesterday.

The cool change nonetheless brought relief to Melburnians who sweltered through what was the state's equal-hottest night in recorded history.

The mercury topped 35C at midnight and only dropped to 30.6C after 8am yesterday.

The sizzling evening equalled the state's record reached on February 1, 1902, but still fell a few degrees short of Adelaide's hottest ever night, reached in January last year when temperatures failed to fall below 33C.

While Melbourne gained relief, Sydney sweltered yesterday with the temperature nudging past 40C in the city's west.

Additional reporting: Angus Hohenboken