Emergency services in Victoria are urging people to remain vigilant as another day of extreme fire danger looms on Tuesday.
The mercury is set to reach the mid-thirties across the state tomorrow, with wind gusts up to 60km/h and the risk of thunderstorms in central and western parts of the state.
A total fire ban has been declared for the Central (including Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat), North Central, South West, West and South Gippsland and Wimmera fire districts, meaning no fire can be lit in the open air or allowed to remain alight from 12:01am to 11:59pm on February 17.
Extreme fire danger is forecast in each of these areas, and also in Victoria’s northeast.
“Fires if they do start will be unpredictable uncontrollable and will be difficult for our firefighters on the ground,” said Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch in an update on Monday afternoon.
The dangerous weather predicted follows a devastating January during which fires burned more than 350,000 hectares of Victoria, killing an elderly man.
Wiebusch also had a welcome update in this regard.
“On Friday, we saw two of the major fires that we’ve had with us for over a month now, at Walwa-Mount Lawson, and also the fire at Longwood be deemed under control and being passed back to local crews,” he said. “Recovery operations are fully underway for both of those fires.”
Wiebusch said he hoped the Otways fire, which flared up in late January having started weeks earlier, would be contained next week.
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