Lending a hand at Gellibrand: Firefighting crews from across West Vic travel to help combat blaze

Crews from Port Fairy, Wangoom and Nullawarre were among volunteers who jumped on a tanker and grabbed a hose.

Author

Zara Cuthbertson
January 27, 2026

Nearly 60 years after joining the Country Fire Authority, Port Fairy’s urban fire brigade captain Hugh Worrall was one of more than 20 crews of firefighters on the frontlines in the rugged bush around Gellibrand.

What happened: Worrall, who also battled major bushfires during Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday, is leading a regional strike team with crews from units including Port Fairy, Nullawarre and Wangoom. 

The group assembled at Camperdown on Saturday before deploying into the Otways, and worked into the early hours of Sunday morning from 6pm to 2am as winds triggered ember attacks near rural properties and the edge of town.

Tricky terrain: Dense plantations and steep forest landscape have meant most of the fire activity around Gellibrand remains inaccessible to fire tankers. 

  • “You couldn't access the bush to get in, so you had to wait till it came out, and when it came out, it would come out at a fair speed,” Worrall told the Brolga.

At one stage, wind pushed the fire away from Gellibrand, prompting redeployment to fresh breakouts after fire control lines were crossed. 

“Time to go”: Thousands of Otways locals urged to evacuate as 40-degree weather brings severe fire risks to the region

With the Otways still burning weeks after dry lightning first struck, Carlisle River and Gellibrand residents have faced more challenging days of extreme heat and stressful fire conditions.

Hot getting hotter: Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Kevin Parkyn told reporters at Friday afternoon’s press conference a “dome of heat” was expected to “sit over Victoria”, not just over the weekend, but “well into next week”. 

  • The Bureau issued a heatwave warning on Friday, with conditions escalating from Saturday as “hot, dry, northwesterly winds” resulted in increasing fire danger across the state.

Australia's National Climate Risk Assessment, released in 2025, found bushfire conditions will only get more intense, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil. 

The current outlook for Australia is one of longer seasons, more extreme fire weather, and bigger burns that are harder to control.

A challenging fight: Despite the conditions, Worrall said the strike team managed to protect locals’ assets during their shift.  

  • “It wasn't scary, but it was a challenging time for everybody,” said Worrall. 

Fire still going: The fire continues to burn and Worrall expects more CFA volunteers to return to the Otways once local risk eases further west near Warrnambool. 

  • “They'll need as many appliances as they can,” said Worrall.

Each fire is unique: After campaigns spanning decades, Worrall said every major fire is different – but the difficulty in the Otways is consistent. 

“I've seen all the fires… they're all challenging,” he said. “But this is in the bush… and it's just a waiting game.