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Community Update – 1300 hrs 6/02/03

Incident Control Centres are operating at Swifts Creek, Orbost and Dargo for the Bogong South Complex

By Gippsland Fire Information - 6th February 2003 - Back to News

Tune in to the following radio stations for updates on the situation:
ABC Gippsland on 100.7FM, 106.7FM or 720 AM,
3HCR on 97.3FM, 3TR on 99.9 FM,
3REGFM on 90.7 or 105.5 FM,
Cooma 2XL on 92.1 FM
ABC Bega on 810 AM,
Radio NSW on 100.9 FM


The Fires

The Bogong South Complex of fires burning in the Gippsland region cover 420,500 hectares of country, stretching from Dargo in the west to Tubbut in the east.

Spotfires in the Benambra and Bindi areas burnt 800 hectares of grazing land last night before being quickly contained by CFA crews.

The three fires in the Snowy River National Park remain unchecked and another small spot has developed south of the existing fires.

In the Dargo area, the main fire has been stable overnight, but spotfires at Jones’ Track and Matheson’s Flat are causing concern.

Fighting the Fires

Operations at Dargo are to be expanded over the next few days and a contingent of American fire experts will also join Dargo personnel today.

Fire crews are close to linking backburns on the central southern edge of the fire between Gelantipy and Swifts Creek, meeting in the Nunniong Plateau area. Backburns are also planned for the western section of the fire to link from the Dargo High Plains Road through to Birregun and the Crabtree line from Swifts Creek.

Backburns in the Snowy River National Park are planned to link up with those coming in from New South Wales.

Work continues on the major containment line along the Yalmy Road to Bonang in the east of the region. Backburns from this line will endeavour to protect assets further east.

Dozer protection work has finished at Cassilis and some effective hand trail work was done around spotfires north of Swifts Creek.

Some fire activity around the Cobungra Estate is being carefully monitored and extinguished as it reaches freehold land.

Monitoring the Fire

There are currently three reconnaissance aircraft providing intelligence on fire behaviour and progress.

The Weather

Isolated showers and thunderstorms with a light north to north easterly wind.

Where to from here?

Community meetings are listed in the Contingency Plans section below.

There are now so many community noticeboards displaying this information that the list is too long include here.

If you would like to know where your nearest noticeboard is, please contact 1800 668 066.

Co-ordinating the effort

To support the efforts of the fire fighting crews and the management of the DSE/DPI and CFA there are Municipal Emergency Coordination Centres (MECC) running at Bairnsdale and Sale.

The centres have been established to co-ordinate all the agencies and services that assist the effort and to provide direct services to the communities affected by the fires. Agencies involved include: Red Cross, Department of Human Services, Shire of East Gippsland, Shire of Wellington, Medical Services, Rural Ambulance, CFA, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Department of Primary Industries, Telstra, Regional Health Services, Department of Education, Police, St Johns Ambulance, SES, Salvation Army, Bus Proprietors Association. As conditions change, other agencies are also brought on board to assist.

The level of planning and co-ordination provided through the MECC has ensured that any issues that have been raised by people affected by the fires have been dealt with quickly and effectively.

To access these services or for other assistance, please call 1800 668 066.

How will it affect you?

School closures:

The following schools will resume on Monday February 10:

Swifts Creek Secondary College, Omeo, Bruthen, Clifton Creek, Goongerah Primary Schools. Students from Swifts Creek Primary School will resume on Wednesday February 12.

The following schools will not resume until at least Monday February 17:

Buchan, Tubbut and Dargo Primary Schools.

The Alpine School will not have its first intake until at least Monday February 17.

Although some of these schools are due to resume, no buses will be running in these areas and other transport arrangements will need to be made by parents.

For updates on school closures please call 1800 668 066

There is now a manned roadblock north of Buchan, with a permit system for stock and fodder transport to the north of Buchan. People will need to contact the Animal Welfare office on 51 594266 for a permit on the day they want to transport livestock or fodder. Entry will only be allowed if the load and the conditions are suitable. Any loads of fodder must be covered with a tarpaulin to reduce the risk of embers igniting the load.

It is imperative that landholders act on the information provided during DSE/CFA information sessions and make arrangements for their stock well before the fire becomes a problem.

Please be aware that you will not be able to take your stock out or get fodder to them during the danger period and that could last for a number of days once the fire affects your area. Please assist authorities by taking action to protect your stock in plenty of time.

It might be a good idea to talk to neighbours about making arrangements to share fodder in urgent situations where trucks may not be able to get through.

The Omeo Oval remains the designated refuge area for residents in the Omeo and Benambra areas. For residents in the Swifts Creek and Cassilis area, the Swifts Creek Secondary College is your

designated refuge area and for Ensay residents, the Ensay Hall or Bruthen Hall if preferred. For Buchan residents, the Buchan Recreation Reserve is your designated refuge area.

Other Emergency Refuge Centres are: Tubbut Hall, Bonang Hall, Delegate River Tavern, Karoondah Park, Gelantipy.

Bombala High School and Delegate Primary School are refuge and registration sites for the movement of people in the area. The Dargo Hall is a registration and refuge area only at times of high risk.

The Bairnsdale Staging Area is being strengthened and a new staging area is being established at Sale. Some resources at the Gelantipy Staging Area are being relocated to Buchan Caves Reserve to better manage the fire as it moves south. There will still be crews at Gelantipy for asset protection.

Parks Victoria has offered to allow local Buchan residents to store small personal items in the Caves. Any items will need to be well sealed to prevent moisture. Contact Stephanie Finn at Buchan Caves. Note: this is for small items only and there is no immediate threat to Buchan.

Please take care on roads in areas where the fire has burned through. With many fences down, stock may be wandering on the roadsides, creating a hazard for vehicles. The Omeo, Benambra, Suggan Buggan and Wulgulmerang areas in particular are where stock are loose.

Residents are urged to call the Gippsland Community Fire Information line on 1800 668 066 to report stock losses and to get help with the care or humane destruction of injured stock.

DPI beef and sheep officers will be available to provide free personalised advice to fire-affected farmers. The service will include advice on drought feeding and feed budgeting. Farmers will be helped to make the hard decisions on options for retaining or selling stock. Farmers should phone 1800 668 066 to express interest. They will be contacted by a DPI officer who will determine their needs and arrange a farm visit if required. Printed materials can also be mailed to farmers free of charge.

If you leave your home or town you are requested to inform the Australian Red Cross staff at your local refuge area, who are keeping track of all movements during the fires for safety reasons.

If you have already registered but you then change your plans it is important to inform the Red Cross. Also, if you leave your vehicle at a staging area they should be informed.

Road closures:

  • The Great Alpine Road north of Bruthen is closed to all vehicles except emergency vehicles and local traffic.
  • Omeo Highway between Omeo and Eskdale
  • Great Alpine Road north of Omeo
  • Benambra-Corryong road, between Omeo and Corryong
  • Benambra Road between Uplands and Colac Colac
  • Benambra-Suggan Buggan Road (Limestone-Black Mountain Road)
  • Bogong High Plains Road between Mount Beauty and Omeo Highway.
  • Dargo High Plains Road between Dargo & Mt Hotham
  • Gelantipy Road, north of Buchan
  • Snowy River Road
  • McKillops Tourist Road
  • Cabanandra Road
  • Dellicknora Road
  • Benambra-Limestone Road
  • Lower Dargo Road
  • No public access to Bogong High Plains, Bogong Village, Mount Hotham Village and Falls Creek.

Motorists are warned not to drive through roadblocks, even if the fire has passed and it appears to be safe. Smouldering trees could fall across the road well after the fire has been through.

Safety Messages

Stay tuned at home and in your car to local stations (ABC Regional Radio on 100.7 FM, 106.7FM or 720 on AM band, 3HCR on 97.3, 3TR on 99.9FM, 3REGFM on 90.7FM, Cooma 2XL on 92.1FM, ABC Bega on 810AM)

and keep listening for fire location information, spread of fires and weather conditions to monitor your local situation so you have an up to date snapshot of what is happening.

Interruption to electricity supply may occur during bushfires and should be planned for.

Ensure you have on hand:

  • Portable radio and spare batteries (Remember you can listen to the car radio if necessary)
  • Torch and spare batteries
  • Cordless phones with "remote handsets" require electricity to run and recharge the unit battery. Consider what other communication you have access to: a mobile phone, a CFA listening set etc

Timber Mills and Companies should be on high alert in the current fire situation and may not be able to rely on local brigades to protect their assets.

Fine fuel materials such as sawdust and offcuts should be removed from buildings and machinery. These should be stockpiled well away and to the south of the buildings.

Areas where sawdust is not able to be cleared entirely should be wet down prior to fire impact.

Bare earth fire breaks should be prepared around buildings, other assets and log piles.

Sprays should be turned on over log piles prior to fire impact. Every effort should be made to ship milled product from the site. Milled stockpiles should be protected by bare earth breaks an covered with tarpaulins where possible.

call 1800 668 066 for more information.

Looking after livestock:

  • On high fire danger days, larger animals such as goats and horses are best placed in a paddock that has been well grazed. Horses should not be locked up in small areas or stables, but moved to an open paddock with little vegetation so they can move freely.
  • Horses are good at moving themselves to safe open areas and suffer minimal burns if left to do so.
  • All equipment including rugs, halters and flyveils should be removed from horses, as the plastic may melt and buckles may burn the animal.
  • For enquiries about emergency horse accommodation, please call 1800 668 066.

Safety measures for sheep and cattle can be put into place quickly during threat of fire. One of the key factors in minimising risk to stock is to identify the safest areas on the farm. On days of extreme fire risk stock should be moved to lower risk areas. You should also listen to weather forecasts and observe your own environment to help you decide when to put your plan into action.

Safe areas include paddocks with green summer crops or lucerne, bare paddocks with no dry feed, or a ploughed paddock. Firebreaks are imperative. They may be a bare laneway or a ploughed break. Stock can be held in yards with bare or ploughed surrounds. The surrounds can be wetted in advance, however the yards must be well defended as the fire front passes.

Preventing electricity problems – what can you do?

Already during these fires more than 160 power poles have been destroyed by fire.

In most of these cases the fire took hold at the base of the poles, ignited by grass and

other vegetation at the base of power poles.

Residents are being asked to help retain the power supply in their area by clearing around the base of power poles back to bare earth where possible.

Contingency plans

Staff from the Department of Primary Industries and the CFA are endeavouring to ensure that communities most likely to be affected by the fires in the region are kept well informed and up to date with the situation as it develops.

This section of the Community Update is directed at those communities to help

prepare them for the possibility of fire threat.

Community meetings will be held at the following places over the coming week:

  • Friday 7 February: Buchan Recreation Reserve
  • Friday 7 February: Metung, Bowling Club, Main Road, 7.30pm
  • Sunday February 9, Sarsfield Recreation Reserve, 2.30pm
  • Wednesday February 12: Heyfield Memorial Hall, 7.30pm

A community contact line has been set up for anyone affected by the fires to obtain information relevant to their situation.

This number will give you information on every aspect of the fire situation in Gippsland, your bushfire preparation and planning and further contacts that you might need. It is also to report stock losses and get help to treat injured stock.

Please note: this number is for information only, not for reporting fires.

The Gippsland Community Fire Information Line is: 1800 668 066

Call 000 or your local fire station to report any new fires.

Family & Personal Counselling support (based in Bairnsdale) can also be accessed through our fire information line,

1800 668 066

TELEPHONE HELP

Telstra Country Wide is offering free call diversion for people affected by the bushfires.

This allows you to receive all calls to your home phone to another phone, either fixed or mobile.

If you have suffered loss of property and no longer have access to your usual phone service, please call 1300 134 239.

Strategies for the longer term

Contingency lines from Labertouche in the west to Mallacoota in the east are being upgraded and maintained by Gippsland Region DPI/DSE. The contingency lines are generally forest roads and tracks close to the private land and public land interface. Should existing fires or any new fires threaten private assets, under favourable conditions these lines may offer an opportunity to backburn.

East of the Snowy River, the Yalmy Road is to be prepared as a strategic fire break. Logging contractors will work to prepare the road as a base line from which to backburn and to establish containment lines.

Last but not Least

Asked to draw a picture of the biblical flight into Egypt, a boy drew a plane with four people in it flying towards Egypt. Three of the passengers had halos.

"Who are they?" inquired the Sunday School teacher.

"They are Jesus, Joseph and Mary," replied the boy.

"And who is the one without the halo?"

That’s Pontius the Pilot," replied the boy.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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