THE sky was glowing an ominous orange above The Gurdies overnight on Thursday night, December 20 as a small but inaccessible bushfire continued to burn out of control off Woodland Close in a Native Vegetation Offset site owned by the Bass Coast Shire Council.
Speaking on Gippsland ABC Radio this morning, State Control Centre spokesperson Luke Hegarty said additional crews and aircraft would join the fight on Friday and over the weekend if necessary.
“So, overnight, we have still seen the fire continue to remain active that's why that ‘watch and act’ message is still in place,” Mr Hegarty said.
“It is not yet under control. Now it's not spreading in a significant way, but unfortunately, it's not contained at this point, and with today's conditions, we're obviously expecting that there's a risk to the community if the fire does continue to spread, so certainly the watch and act part of the message is there. Monitor the conditions, because they are changing,” he said.
“They will change during the day, both in terms of wind direction and temperature, and that has the potential to impact the fire and whether it spreads or not.
“So, our focus is getting some crews, additional crews, in first thing this morning, with some support from aircraft, to really start to try and knock that fire down before we get into the hot part of the day.”
What is the size of the fire?
“At the moment, it's about 3 hectares in size. So, I think the trick with fires in The Gurdies is always that they sound quite small, particularly for Gippsland listeners. A 3.5 hectare fire can sound quite small compared to some of the larger fires that we've had over the years.
“But I think in this case, it's a difficult to access location, which means that even a small fire is significant in terms of its risk, but also just the challenge that our crews have got in trying to contain it.
“So, it's definitely a day where we're just saying, people just need to be aware that fire’s there. Just check your fire plan. Be aware that things can change. And, as I said, that this is a day when we're seeing those, the mixture of increased temperature and wind, that's potentially going to shift direction on a couple of occasions.
“So, and being in the coastal sort of area, that also presents us with the challenges of the winds, not always, of behaving the way that they would elsewhere in the area.”
How close are houses to that area?
Look, there's some so that the Woodland Close is obviously mentioned in the warning. That is the closest area where there's some properties.
It's not, I wouldn't say, it's not heavily populated, but it's also a day where I think any sort of wind that we see that pops up with a bit of extra strength, that's when we see those sorts of fires potentially spread fairly rapidly.
“So whilst it's not a large area, I'd be saying that the people who are in the watch and act warning area at the moment need to just be aware that the situation can change today, and if you're not going to be around, or if you're planning to be out and about, just be conscious of that if you're heading out, there might be a change situation by the time you come back.
“And if you don't want to be around today, if you've got a plan, if the situation changes, then double check that and be ready and make sure that your plan’s clear in your head before we get into the heat of the day.
“And we've got extra crews coming in early this morning, and there's aircraft that will be up in the air as soon as they can take off once there's enough light around.
The lack of other competing bushfires elsewhere in the state is playing into the CFA’s hands as they will be able to throw considerable resources at The Gurdies fire today and if necessary over the weekend.
Statement attributed to an SCC Spokesperson
Friday, December20, 2024 6:34am:
There is a bushfire in The Gurdies Nature Reserve.
Firefighters from CFA and FFMV are currently on scene.
About 10 people who live on the nearby Woodland Close Reserve have evacuated their homes.
The fire has burned 3 hectares and firefighters have been able to slow the spread of fire for now, but the situation can change at any time.
A Watch and Act - Monitor conditions as they are changing is in place for Woodland Close, The Gurdies.
Shire comment
The Bass Coast Shire Council which owns and manages the land at The Gurdies where the fire is taking place as a Native Vegetation Offset site has declined to comment about its bush fire management arrangements until after the present situation is resolved.
