Peter Bannan
“MOVE out tonight” was the advice of CFA chief officer Steve Warrington to Mallee residents on Wednesday afternoon.
The stark warning came ahead of the first code red day for fire conditions since 2010, with locals told to leave their homes that night, advised firefighters would be unable to control a fire in the weather conditions forecast.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) had forecast a maximum temperature of 42 degrees, with winds forecast to reach up to 90 kilometres an hour.
Conditions were deemed most dangerous between 11am and 3pm, with a possibility of dry lightning also flagged.
Following days of closely monitoring conditions and forecasts, a code red was declared for the Mallee and Northern Country.
A code red day signals the worst possible grass and bushfire conditions, the safest place to be in these conditions is outside the area.
Swan Hill CFA captain Dennis Turner said local volunteers were at the ready yesterday. Speaking at 3.30pm, he told The Guardian the morning had been quieter than expected, with hopes the trend would continue through the afternoon.
“Nothing so far, it’s been pretty good for the northern part of the north-west so far, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” capt Turner said.
“Because of what it was, we upgraded what we would normally do, we had some tankers on stand by and a few crews upgraded.”
Firefighters were, however, called out on Wednesday night after the alert was issued when one Swan Hill resident lit a bonfire.
Capt Turner said the incident was now in the hands of police, but showed a lack of awareness around the danger of the conditions.
“It was just one of those things where people don’t show enough caution to be checking the weather before doing those sorts of things,” capt Turner said.
“I know it was only a small fire, but the problem is it was a total fire ban, and you can’t be burning-off this year period, restrictions are in now and they’re in for a reason.”
As a precaution, a number of local schools shut their doors, with some school buses cancelled and V/Line advising buses would replace trains, while across the river, the Mid Murray Zone NSW RFS requested harvest operators stop operations immediately and check if it was safe to continue.
A total 32 aircraft were pre-positioned across the state to provide air support in the event it was required.
CFA and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) crews were manning aviation assets, Fire Spotter 385 and Bird Dog 384 from Ramair Mildura.
Aircraft and crews were also on standby at Linga airbase with Bombers 352 and 353, from Field Air, normally located at Ouyen, but moved due to the weather and to allow for a quicker response time.
Conditions followed the forecast early on, with dust blanketing the town, and the temperature climbing to 42.2 degrees at 1.30pm, before slowly dropping.
Dusty, hot winds fell short of the forecast, peaking at 74km/h, but still made for sweltering and uncomfortable conditions.
Despite the harsh conditions, the Mallee escaped without a major fire.
A welcome splash of rain was received just before 2.30pm, but was accompanied by a thunderstorm asthma warning across the north of the state.
Emergency Management Vic commissioner Andrew Crisp said if a fire started in yesterday’s conditions, it would have been uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast moving.
He advised fire agencies would find these fires difficult to control, with a high likelihood people in the path of the fire would be killed or seriously injured in these conditions.
Mr Crisp said Victoria had not experienced a code red day, and it needed to be taken seriously, with residents advised leaving Wednesday night or early Thursday morning were the safest options.
It also formed a timely reminder of the need for locals to be fire ready this season.
“Our community members should be prepared for fire and know where to get information to make good decisions about fire safety,” he said.
“Given fires could start and move quickly, you won’t always receive a warning or be told what to do if a fire starts.
“The fire agencies advise you not to wait and see, it’s up to you to be prepared and to know what you will do.”
Mr Warrington warned against complacency in the face of these conditions, he told media at an evening press conference it wasn’t too much to ask people to leave as a precaution.
“Homes are not built to withstand the types of fires we may see on a code red day and you don’t want to be caught travelling through area on fire at the last minute if you wait and see,” he said.
“Code red says to us if a fire starts, we can’t control it…move out tonight…it is about your safety and your wellbeing and we do not think it is such a big ask that we ask you are not there.”
