CFA urges burn off caution after out of control Bambra fire

Landowners have been warned to monitor conditions and delay planned burns after a burn off got out of control in Bambra on Wednesday.

Crews responded at about 3pm, with brigades from Deans Marsh, Winchelsea, Birregurra and Barwon Downs working to contain the fire as warm and windy conditions continue to increase the risk of spread.

South-east Australia has experienced a warmer and drier than average start to autumn, prompting the CFA to remind landowners to take care when burning.

The conditions align with earlier forecasts from the Bureau of Meteorology, which in February predicted ‘unusually low’ rainfall and ‘warmer than average’ days and nights across Victoria for March to May.

CFA south west regional commander Peter Creak said the conditions require vigilance and patience.

With strengthening northerly winds forecast for Friday and Saturday, the CFA is again urging landowners to delay any planned burns.

“This time of year, we expect things to start getting damper, but it’s certainly dried off in the last couple of weeks, so there’s a couple of messages,” Creak said.

“The first one is if people have been using fire to either burn stubble on their properties or to burn off debris that accumulated over the summer months, people need to go back and check those previous fires to ensure there is no chance of reignition.

“The other thing that we’re encouraging is for people to defer any further burning that they might be planning for Friday and Saturday until the wind drops and perhaps even after we’ve had a little bit of rain.”

Creak said extra caution should be taken by landowners near scrub or forest areas, and encouraged people to check old burns daily to ensure they had not reignited.

He also stressed the importance of speaking with neighbours ahead of any planned burns.

With dry conditions expected to continue into May, Creak urged people to ensure they are monitoring conditions constantly.

“We might still get warm and dry weather, and you need to be really careful and cautious,” he said.

“Check local conditions and also check the weather forecast for several days after you’re planning to burn.”

Planned burns reduce dry vegetation such as grass, leaves, bark, shrubs and small fallen branches, making it easier to contain bushfires.