“At the mercy of mother nature”: Western Victoria braces for more extreme fire conditions

Hot, dry and windy conditions across southwest Victoria have prompted warnings of extreme fire danger today.

What’s going on? The Bureau of Meteorology says a cold front moving across the state is creating a volatile mix of heat, strong winds and the risk of severe thunderstorms, with western Victoria the key area of concern.

• The BoM’s Morgan Pumpa said the western half of the state, including the southwest down to the coast, was the focus for possible severe storm activity capable of producing damaging wind gusts.

“It is going to be a hot day … a windy day … and we have the change coming through, which is bringing the chance of some storms as well,” she said.

Wind picking up: Strong gusts were recorded on Tuesday morning, including 81km/h at Mount William and 63km/h at Mount Gellibrand, while Warrnambool’s weather station had already reached 30C by 9:45am.

• The wind change is expected in Warrnambool between about 1pm and 2pm, before pushing further inland through the Grampians later in the afternoon.

Firefighters locked and loaded: While the Otways fires and blazes near Skipton and Larralea from January are fully contained, crews continue patrols.

• Apostles group officer Mark Roberts from the Country Fire Authority said brigades were already positioned - including in fire towers - and monitoring conditions.

“The concern is, when this weather front comes through, there’s predicted lightning with it,” he said. Crews and the landscape were still “at the mercy of mother nature”.

Get out early: Roberts said fuels across the landscape were now “fully cured” with little remaining moisture, increasing the risk if ignitions occur.

• He urged residents to closely monitor warnings and leave early if needed.

“If there is a new start and multiple starts, we’re not always going to get a fire truck to everyone straight away,” he said. “The best plan is to get out early.”