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Loch Sport fire contained

Posted by CFA Media
Friday, 28 September 2012

Fire crews have contained the Loch Sport – Spoon Bay Track Fire in coastal vegetation south-west of Loch Sport, in central Gippsland.

The fire, which started early yesterday morning, has burnt through 730 hectares of land in the Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park.

DSE Incident Controller Laurie Jeremiah said as wet weather moved in crews were able to build strong control lines, and were blacking out on the edges.

“There’s been a fair bit of planned burning done in this area over the past few years which has reduced the fuel load, and that has really helped the effort to contain the fire.

“An advice message still applies to the area, and we ask residents and visitors to areas around Loch Sport, Seacombe and Golden Beach to continue monitoring conditions, and to stay in touch with what is going on by listening to local radio.

“The road into Loch Sport is now open and people planning to visit the area over school holidays are welcome, but there are speed restrictions in place because of smoke and slow moving machinery and we ask that they drive safely and drive to the conditions.”

Rain is forecast over coming days which will help to further dampen fire behaviour.  However, CFA and DSE crews will continue to monitor the fire in advance of warm weather predicted next week.

Today there have been 115 personnel working on the fire from DSE, CFA, Victoria Police and SP Ausnet.

Some 39 slip-on units and seven dozers have been used in the suppression effort, and an aeroplane and helicopter have been used for aerial monitoring.

The fire is thought to have been deliberately lit, and community members are asked to report any suspicious activity to the Sale Police on 5143 5000 or to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

For information on fires in Victoria and general fire safety, please contact the Victorian Bushfire Information Line (VBIL) on freecall 1800 240 667. Callers who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech / communication impairment may contact VBIL via the National Relay Service on 1800 555 677

People should also tune in to their emergency broadcasters: ABC Local Radio, commercial radio and designated community radio stations or SKY NEWS Television.


Information is online at www.dse.vic.gov.au/fires or www.cfa.vic.gov.au.

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Last modified on Tuesday, 02 October 2012 11:44
Read 1680 times
Comments (1)Add Comment
Eric Collier
...
written by Eric Collier, October 02, 2012
It's a bit of a worry when we get a fire capable of burning the landscape clear of vegetation in September!

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