By KATRINA BRANDON
LATROBE Valley residents braved extreme temperatures last week, as much of the state battled horrendous bushfires.
Temperatures climbed into the 40s last Wednesday, while thick smoke from bushfires across Victoria choked the air on Friday.
Fortunately, no bushfires were recorded for the Latrobe Valley.
Local crews spent the weekend tending to fires around Dargo.
A State of Disaster has been declared by the Premier until early next month for 18 LGAs, including the Wellington Shire, which borders Latrobe City at places like Rosedale and Heyfield.
A Total Fire Ban was in place from last Wednesday to Sunday, with temperatures in Latrobe reaching a high of 43 degrees on Friday, damaging winds, and conditions that exacerbated the danger. A storm also swept through the area.
The State Control Centre released a statement on Friday morning, saying the Friday fire danger will be the worst across Victoria since the Black Summer in 2019/20. Catastrophic and Extreme Fire conditions have been forecast across the state.
Around Gippsland, multiple towns also lost power and mobile networking due to the severity of the winds from Friday afternoon into Sunday.
Multiple structures fires were also seen over the past few days, including a house fire on Churchill Road, Morwell on Thursday (January 8).
On Thursday, a false alarm was raised on the Vic Emergency app, showing a “bushfire” along Boola Boola Rd in the Yallourn North area, which was soon removed from the app.
While it was a false alarm, the situation served as a reminder that fires can occur anywhere and at any time under extreme conditions.
Two major fires, caused by dry lightning, were seen throughout the state, including a massive fire in the northern Victorian town of Longwood.
It was large enough to create its own weather system and deemed ‘catastrophic’ and ‘unpredictable’.
Photograph: David Braithwaite
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is warning people to be prepared to leave when conditions reach extreme levels before they become catastrophic, and to limit travel unless they are evacuating an affected zone.
Hitting a bit closer to home, a fire was seen at Lake Barracoota in Mallacoota. Residents were asked to stay informed as Forest Fire Management Victoria worked to bring it under control. Another bushfire was seen on the outskirts of Briagalong, reaching 0.04 hectares on Thursday, and another north of Talbotville/Dargo area continued to burn throughout the week, growing to five hectares by the end of Thursday.
Around 6.40pm on Friday, people in the Black Snake Creek, Blomford, Budgee Budgee, Castleburn, Dargo, Gibbs and surrounding areas were told to leave immediately as fire conditions continued to get worse.
Burning embers from multiple bushfires north of Wonnangatta in the Alpine National Park travelled up to 20 kilometres, rapidly starting numerous new fires around the area.
CFA crews from the Wellington area made their way up to help in the Talbotville/Dargo bushfire.
Authorities closed public land areas, such as public camping zones, to ensure safety, and that if something was to happen “out in the bush”, people would not find themselves in dangerous conditions on roads unknown or unfamiliar to them.
With summer in full swing, authorities urge people to stay vigilant and keep up to date with warnings and conditions in their areas, monitor fires and daily weather updates via apps such as BoM, and plan for potential hazards.
Under hot conditions, they also urge people to check on their neighbours and, if they are without air conditioning or other cooling methods at home, to seek shelter at nearby shopping centres. They also advise staying in touch with loved ones and listening to emergency broadcasting stations.
Following the week of scorching heat, today (Wednesday, January 14) through to Thursday (January 15) is the start of possible storm coverage, bringing an estimate of 30mm of rain and thunderstorms.
On Monday (January 12) and Tuesday (January 13) the temperature hit a high of 29 degrees. While the 29 degrees isn’t the “dire” weather like the previous week, the fire danger is still quite serious, as conditions around Gippsland are extremely dry, and fires are still around.
Wednesday’s expected storm follows through to Thursday (January 15), with showers expected to ease within the following days.
With temperatures still being dry, authorities continue to warn people that lightning can cause fires.
Call Triple Zero if you see flames or smouldering patches, but not if it is just smoke.
For more information, go to: emergency.vic.org.au
