THE Bass Highway has reopened to traffic both ways past The Gurdies after a bushfire escaped from The Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve (NCR) on Friday afternoon, December 20 and reached tress, bush and grass by the side of the road.
But prepare for possible delays with a large number of fire and emergency vehicles moving through the area, and fire clearly visible from the highway still burning furiously at 11.30pm last night.
The Gurdies bushfire has been downgraded to a 'Watch and Act' and it was noticeable that fire activity in the area has been reduced as a result of the efforts of firefighters, both on the ground and in the air, but also due to a moderation in the wind and cooler conditions.
The troublesome but small bushfire of Friday afternoon, in dense bush near the Woodland Close estate, exploded into a dangerously unpredictable blaze, spotting ahead into farmland following a gusty south westerly wind change at about 4.55pm on Friday which sent black, brown and white smoke towering thousands of metres into the air dwarfing firebombing helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, brought in to bolster resources, which also included bulldozers, graders, and dozens of fire trucks and strike crews from as far away as Springvale and the Mornington Peninsula, but especially from West and South Gippsland and the Bass Coast.
