Every summer, firefighters across the region do their best to prepare locals for what may be around the corner, but when the message has to be reinforced every 12 months, Colac Fire Brigade captain Daniel Williams said complacency can creep in.
January’s bushfires showed what that can cost.
“One bad day can turn into a very long period of bad fire that was quite destructive,” he told the Brolga.
Even in town, he warned, there can be risks - grass, embers reaching homes, and power outages leaving residents with limited communication.
“A lot of people in townships like Colac don’t necessarily have a fire plan,” Williams said, though the Country Fire Authority (CFA) is working to change that.
What’s going on: From October to November, CFA brigades across western Victoria are hosting Get Fire Ready events on local bushfire risk, property preparation, fire planning and emergency information.
In the south west, 175 events are planned, up from 150 in 2025.
Community response: Horsham Fire Brigade hosted its event on Sunday. Community engagement coordinator Curtis Vanstan said the main concern for attendees was learning how to navigate the VicEmergency app to keep informed during emergencies and how to respond if a fire came by the town.
The outlook: The Australasian Fire Authorities Council spring outlook for Victoria has noted an increased risk for fire in Victoria’s far south west, with below average rainfall a key driver.
“With the rain we've had, there's lots of fuel which is going to be ready to burn come the summertime, so it's just a matter of preparing,” Vanstan told the Brolga.
The bigger picture: The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast above average temperatures for most of Australia in the coming months. Our climate cycle is also in an El Niño phase, which locks Australia into a six-month weather pattern that reduces cloud cover and creates extreme heat, bringing drier conditions to central and eastern Australia. According to the CSIRO, climate change is fuelling stronger El Niño events, more often.
Does it work? CFA survey data after the first round of Get Fire Ready events in 2025 found 96 percent of attendees had taken or intended to take steps to prepare their property and 70 percent learned something new.
Keeping safe: Williams said households should keep key documents such as licences, medical records and passports in one grab-and-go pack and decide in advance where they will go and how they will stay cool.
Both firefighters pointed to VicEmergency, the CFA website and the ABC for warnings.
Dates, times and locations for local Get Fire Ready events can be found on the CFA website.