Fire escape
FARMERS lit burnoffs despite hot windy weather last week, just days before fire restrictions were implemented yesterday (Monday).
Last Wednesday marked the first total fire ban day of the season across South Gippsland, but firefighters responded to 10 incidents, sparking a plea from the Country Fire Authority for landholders to check weather conditions before igniting burns.
CFA District 9 operations manager Mark Jones said firefighters worked to extinguish burnoffs lit before the fire ban.
“South Gippsland CFA brigades attended to 10 grass and scrub fires. Six were determined as re-ignitions of previous burnoffs,” he said.
“Fire authorities always urge any landholders who have recently conducted private burnoffs to check, double check, or triple check the burn is fully extinguished.”
Mr Jones encouraged farmers to check weather conditions before burning, as all fires must be extinguished during a day of total fire ban.
“Total fire bans are declared around 4pm the afternoon before they come into force,” he said.
“On a total fire ban day, no fires may be lit in the open air and existing fires must be fully extinguished.”
Dumbalk and Mirboo North brigades extinguished a burnoff on a farm at Mardan.
Dumbalk incident manager Rob Fisher said farmers should check the weather forecast before burning.
“A farmer started his burnoff on Tuesday night and due to the total fire ban, we had to come out and black out the burnoff,” he said.
While the property owner did attain a permit for burning off on his property, CFA would like to remind people to plan ahead.
“He realised the wind was picking up and made the decision to call the fire brigade,” Mr Fisher said.
“It is important to look at the weather forecast for both temperatures and wind levels before you plan a burnoff. Otherwise we have to come in and extinguish the flames to ensure there is no chance of them starting other fires.”
Dumbalk and Mirboo North brigades attended the scene from 8am and worked to black out the burn off for most of the morning.
“It took two tankers and nine people to perform the task, which takes time and resources out of the CFA. It is just a reminder to consider weather conditions in advance,” Mr Fisher said.
A similar callout occurred in Arawata last Wednesday when the Ruby Fire Brigade attended a rural property to extinguish a separate burnoff.
Brigade captain Darren Hardacre said the farmer attempted to extinguish the blaze the night before and called for assistance on Tuesday evening.
“The property owner was checking his burnoff and discovered one fire was still burning. We made the decision to extinguish the fires on Wednesday morning. Because he reported the fire beforehand we did not report him during the fire ban,” Mr Hardacre said.
“We are all community members and we would rather work as a community rather than have them charged.”
The incidents came as South Gippslanders have been warned to brace themselves for a heightened fire risk this summer, just days after a spate of fires across the region.
This summer is set to be one of the driest on record and yet fire brigades responded to many fires last week, ahead of fire restrictions being implemented yesterday (Monday).
South Gippsland Shire Council’s Cr Nigel Hutchinson-Brooks told council last Wednesday he was informed by emergency services the soil moisture content in the region now was equivalent to what it usually is in February.
Low soil moisture equates to drier vegetation, which increases the risk of fires occurring and the prospect of more intense blazes.
“This year is an exceptional one and particularly over the Christmas and New Year period, the fire danger is going to be significantly higher than it has been in previous years,” Cr Hutchinson-Brooks said.
“The challenge for us is to communicate to visitors that there is a huge fire risk.”
He said Sandy Point was especially at risk of bushfire, given the significant amount of vegetation there.
“It really does concern me and in that particular case, there is one road in and one road out,” Cr Hutchinson-Brooks said.
He also noted few visitors would be aware of Wilsons Promontory National Park’s vulnerability to bushfire, given many tourists associated South Gippsland with green hills and high rainfall.
Burning out: Dumbalk and Mirboo North firefighters worked to extinguish a burn off in Mardan last Wednesday morning, including Fritz Jansen (left) and Allan Schafer.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Dec 1 2015. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
