Victoria braces for bushfire weather
A BLAST of spring heat has put Victoria on bushfire alert for tomorrow, giving the state its first taste of the long fire season ahead.
A BLAST of spring heat has put Victoria on bushfire alert for tomorrow, giving the state its first taste of the long fire season ahead.
Classic bushfire weather will hit drought-affected Victoria on Tuesday, with strong northwesterly winds gusting to 100km/h expected, before a cool and largely dry southwesterly change from early afternoon.
Extreme fire danger is forecast for the North Central region, including Seymour, Maryborough and Castlemaine.
Severe fire conditions will hit the South West, Central and Mallee districts, affecting metropolitan Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Hamilton, Mildura and Swan Hill.
Very high fire danger is forecast for the North East, East Gippsland, and South and West Gippsland, including Wodonga, Wangaratta, Bairnsdale, Sale and Warragul.
Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley says the forecast is a significant concern so early in the season.
“This wind is actually drying Victoria, and it will significantly set the scene for what is the summer ahead of us, and it’s very early,” he told reporters on Monday.
“It’s October, and the Bureau of Meteorology has reported that these are abnormal conditions for this time of year.”
Mr Lapsley said central and western Victoria had experienced drought-like conditions through winter and into spring, with many farm dams and creeks now dry.
He said 12 firefighting aircraft will be available on Tuesday, with a full fleet of 47 aircraft in service from December.
Mr Lapsley urged people to avoid lighting fires and have bushfire plans ready. He also urged landowners to spend time in October preparing their properties for summer.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is investigating how its planned burn near Lancefield, which started on Wednesday, broke containment lines on Saturday and burnt about 100 hectares of public and private land and destroyed 1km of farm fences.
FIRE DANGER RATINGS FOR TUESDAY
North Central - Extreme
Central - Severe
South West - Severe
Mallee - Severe
North East - Very High
East Gippsland - Very High
South and West Gippsland - Very High Wimmera - Low to Moderate
Northern Country - Low to Moderate
WEATHER FORECASTS FOR TUESDAY
Melbourne - sunny, 35C
Mildura - hot and mostly sunny, 39C
Swan Hill - hot and mostly sunny - 39C
Horsham - sunny, 37C
Shepparton - sunny, 35C
Geelong - mostly sunny, 35C
Seymour - sunny, 34C
Albury-Wodonga - 34C
Bendigo - sunny, 34C
Bairnsdale - sunny, 34C
Latrobe Valley - morning fog then mostly sunny, 33C
Warrnambool - becoming windy, 32C
Ballarat - sunny, 31C