Total Fire Ban issued for Geelong and surrounds

THE entire Geelong region will be under a Total Fire Ban tomorrow (Wednesday January 7) for the first time this year.

Strong north westerly winds are expected to develop over Victoria’s south west in what will be a dry and hot day.

Severe heatwave conditions will hit most of the state, with maximum temperatures reaching 42 to 44 degrees Celsius in the north and 39 to 41 in the south.

The Total Fire Ban in the Central, South West and Wimmera districts means no fire can be lit in the open air or allowed to remain alight throughout the full 24 hours of the day.

CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said the next three days would be extremely challenging for both firefighters and those living and travelling in high-risk areas.

“Tomorrow’s Total Fire Ban is just one of many that we expect to declare throughout the week as heatwave conditions elevate ahead of a spike in temperatures on Friday.

“Conditions tomorrow will make it difficult for firefighters to suppress a fire should one start and given the landscape has dried up significantly over recent weeks, high fuel loads pose a serious grassfire risk.

“We’re asking people to follow the strict requirements associated with the Total Fire Ban declaration, consider postponing harvest and cropping activities, and make sure you have your bushfire plan ready to go.

“It is really important people take the actions needed to protect themselves and their family, and that preparedness starts early.”

Victorians can find out if it is a Total Fire Ban on the CFA website www.cfa.vic.gov.au, where it is usually published by 5pm the day before a Total Fire Ban.

The community should also make sure they have access to more than one source of information including local radio, the VicEmergency app, website, hotline or CFA or VicEmergency socials.