CFA is conducting its largest emergency stabilisation works in history following the devastating January 2026 bushfires.
These works are taking part across the south-west, west, north-west and north-east of the state and remain a key focus in CFA’s post fire recovery for landholders.
CFA volunteers and staff, FFMVic, VICSES, Coast Guard, FRV and contractors have been, and some continue to be, out on the ground in fire affected areas repairing and replacing private infrastructure that was impacted as a result of suppression activities during fire response - including fencing that was cut, gates that were damaged, and replacing water that was used.
The reinstatement of soil and stabilisation of control lines on private property remains a priority and involves extensive work using dozers and graders to push back soil and apply erosion control measures to protect the land and water quality.
CFA established a dedicated Incident Control Centre (ICC) at Seymour specifically for the emergency stabilisation works for the Longwood-Berrys Lane fire.
CFA’s Vegetation Management Team Leader and Deputy Incident Controller/Stabilisation Manager for the Seymour ICC Daniel Idczak said the Longwood-Berrys Lane fire is the largest fire CFA lead this season, impacting more than 1,800 properties predominantly on private land.
“The perimeter of the fire is 540km and we have mapped around 889km of control lines so it was a very large fire,” Daniel said.
“We’ve assessed all that area aerially and crews are working on all sectors of the fire footprint with around 60 per cent of the control line now stabilised.
“We have a number of CFA volunteers and staff in teams out there, working alongside partner agencies to make this happen. It’s sector-wide and it’s a big job, so we need all the resources we can get.”
CFA is working through properties on a request basis. Daniel says some landowners may not want parts of their property repaired.
“People often ask us to leave the control line in place as they want to maintain it as a permanent asset going forward,” Daniel said.
“We’ve received really positive feedback from residents as a result of these stabilisation works, some have made permanent changes to their properties to allow easier access for emergency services in the future if required.
“We’re moving as quick as we feasibly can to get to properties. There’s a lot happening out there and a lot of people have been impacted but we’re doing our best to get there as quickly as we can.
“We’re working closely with those impacted and traumatised community members so there’s many challenging conversations taking place.”
CFA is also working with the community to repair a football oval used for staging areas, cleaning the halls that were used for community hubs and replacing the water used for aviation purposes.
The emergency stabilisation works have largely been completed for the fire impacted areas of Natimuk, Streatham and Larralea, while works for the Mount Mercer fire is scheduled to be completed by the end of April and in the next couple of months for Harcourt and Longwood.
Landholders who have been impacted by fire can submit a form to request repairs at their property that were a direct result of fire suppression activities from emergency services. All fencing and water replacement work is reactive to requests from landholders.