Starting last Thursday (December 6) and going through the weekend, our firefighters worked day and night to contain substantial fires in Buninyong/Scotsburn, Little River and East Gippsland.
The response from our people and partner agencies for all three of these was rapid, and it was this that helped us to contain each of the fires.
I cannot stress enough how proud I am of the individuals that worked on those fires over the weekend, which weren’t helped by the conditions faced.
In the Buninyong/Scotsburn fire, the grass within the fire area was reasonably green, but forest fuel was dry due to long term rain shortages. We know that grassfires will burn and develop when grass is not fully cured, thanks to research from CFA and CSIRO.
When you factor in high temperatures and strong winds, our firefighters were up against the elements, which makes their effort to contain the fire all the more impressive.
Strong winds were also a factor in the Little River grassfire, which moved rapidly in a southern direction on Friday afternoon.
A fast response saw multiple strike teams and air support battle the blaze, bringing it under control by 11pm Friday evening, while the fire near Seacombe in East Gippsland was also ably restricted by our crews in the east.
As well as the firefighters who brought the blaze under control, praise must go to the Little River community, who were prepared and evacuated quickly listening advice given.
There is an underlying dryness in the environment that we all must be aware of.
Due to rain shortages, the deep layer soil moisture is low across the state, but especially so in East Gippsland, where it is at record lows.
Looking forward, the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting above average temperatures across the state for the month of December. When combined with the soil dryness of recent times, this creates conditions susceptible for bushfires.
For more information on the outlook and the conditions we are up against, check out CFA Manager Research and Development Dr. Sarah Harris’ report for the month of December.
In the meantime, I urge all of you to continue to be vigilant. Please look after yourselves and your colleagues.
Our communities count on us to be ready when the time comes, and this was certainly the case last week.
Stay safe.