“Be safe, be vigilant”: Entire West Vic region under catastrophic fire danger risk

Runners sidelined, trains halted and fire crews locked and loaded: south west Victoria has been thrown into its highest state of bushfire alert since the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, as authorities warn catastrophic conditions could trigger dangerous outbreaks.

Not running the risk: Organisers cancelled Lorne’s Mountain to Surf running event on Friday morning after Parks Victoria ordered a 24-hour closure of the Great Otway National Park due to “forecast dry lightning and heightened fire risk”.

“The course runs through the national park [and] the event cannot proceed safely under these conditions,”Lorne Surf Life Saving Club said in a statement.

Stopped in their tracks: V/Line has Friday suspended services between Ararat and Wendouree and from Warrnambool to Waurn Ponds, citing the extreme weather conditions.

Country Fire Authority on standby: Apostles CFA deputy group officer Brad Paton told the Brolga there had been “plenty of preparation from state right down to brigade level, ensuring that everyone's in place … every brigade has enough crews on board for the day, and the equipment's ready and fully operational”.

He said the crew will be on standby “for the rest of the day, until the change comes through and conditions settle”.

Predicted change: The Bureau of Meteorology expects winds to move easterly at 18-25 km/h, before shifting to west to northwesterly winds at 25-45 km/h in the late morning and early afternoon.

“We had lightning come through the area last night, so that's also a bit of a concern. That lightning may cause a fire as things heat up during the course of the day,” Paton said. 

Scrub and sea: He identified dry bushland and coastal areas north and south of the Princes Highway as the most vulnerable.

“Given that we had a small share of rain come through the area last night, with the rain and the lightning, things were a little bit dewy this morning,” he said. “So if that heat is a little bit later in the day, that just gives us more time, more of a buffer.” 

“But really, it's to do with the wind and the temperature overall. If you get windy, hot conditions, you're going to have problems if you have a bushfire eventuate.”

Message to the community: While a cool change is expected in the evening and into Saturday and Sunday, Paton still urged the community to “be safe, be vigilant and keep an eye on what's happening in your local area”.

Residents should make sure they have access to more than one source of information to keep updated with fire activity.

They include: 

• The VicEmergency App;

• The VicEmergency website www.emergency.vic.gov.au;

• The VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226;

• Or the CFA or VicEmergency Twitter or Facebook.