Bryce Eishold
A recent spate of winter out-of-control fires in East Gippsland has promoted Latrobe Valley fire fighters to issue a warning about the dangerously dry conditions across the region.
Limited rainfall in some parts of Gippsland has led to parks and reserves throughout eastern Victorian being much dryer than usual, local fire fighters said.
CFA District 27 operations officer for Moe Shane Mynard said many of the fires, particularly in East Gippsland, had been caused by unattended campfires and out of control burn-offs.
He said it was important for tourists and locals to consider conditions ahead of a planned trip, for instance an overnight stay in the bush, where a camp fire may be lit.
“For those who go camping in the bushland, we emphasise they need to ensure their campfires are extinguished and those who wish to burn-off need to ensure they look at the weather condition on the day but also days after,” Mr Mynard said.
“People have been burning off thinking the weather is good at the moment and then a day later or two days later the wind picks up and that’s where we have fires escape from previous burn-offs.
“Everyone needs to ensure the fires are blackened out and fully extinguished which means the coals of the fire are cold.”
The CFA encourages campsite users to “flood” open fires with an excessive amount of water to ensure the fire is completely extinguished.
“A lot of the fires have been in national parks so from that people have a duty of care no matter whether its a camp fire or burn-off to ensure it’s fully extinguished,” Mr Mynard said.
CFA District 27 vegetation management officer John Crane said the dryness was due to lower than average rainfall across the region.
“This situation, combined with the dryness we have experienced over the past two years has not allowed the environment to recover, resulting in a particularly dry environment for this time of the year,” Mr Crane said.
“While we have experienced some particularly cold wintery days in the past couple of months the underlying dryness has persisted resulting in a particularly concerning bushfire risk for our community.
“For example we would usually expect to have a drought-index within Latrobe Valley of zero, or at least lower that 10 at this time of year. The current drought index at the Latrobe Valley automatic weather station is reporting a drought index of over 50.”
People considering burning off should register their burn-offs with the CFA on 1800 668 551, continually attend to it at all times and factor in the weather when planning for a burn.
