By Callum Ludwig
The Seville Rural Fire Brigade has been kept busy this week, being called out to four separate incidents back-to-back on both Monday 4 and Wednesday 6 November.
All the incidents were either caused by dry lightning which swept through the Upper Yarra on both days or burn-offs that either got out of control or reignited.
First Lieutenant at Seville CFA Rob Groiss said the incidents are a clear reminder of how dry it is out there and they urge the residents in not just Seville’s area but all the way through the Valley to make sure that their properties are ready for this coming fire season.
“[On Monday] We were actually just returning to the station from a previous call which was a burn-off that was out of control and spread into some very tall trees, we’d just finished our reports and cleaning off the trucks and the pager went off again just after the dry lightning storm came through,”
“We went into Wandin’s area to assist them um and en route to that job, they let us know that they had that under control but as soon as we got that notification our pager went off for a similar job caused by dry lightning in our area which was the same thing, dry lightning hit a tree basically causing the surrounding grassland and bushland to burn and then subsequently burn up the top of the tree as well,”
“Upon getting back to the station, we got another job to a dry lightning that hit some industrial waste and went up some neighbouring trees in one of the properties out in Yellingbo, so we assisted them with that.”
Dry lightning occurs when the relative humidity in the air is low and temperatures are hot and are major causes of fires, being much more likely to catch alight than if there’s moderate to heavy rain.
Mr Groiss said the number of incidents is not a cause for concern this early in the season because of how well-equipped and manned brigades are to deal with these things, but it just a reminder of the dry conditions.
“It’s a reminder for the public to if they are holding burn-offs, which they’re still allowed to do to date, to keep them monitored, to have adequate water there, to make sure that when they are putting them out, they’re making sure that they’re out because one of these burn-offs was put out three days earlier and with the high winds, it reignited,” he said.
“There are more dry lightning storms forecast, it’s certainly not going to be the last time we see that this coming season so once again, it’s a reminder to communities to get their properties fire-ready, clearing anything from fence lines, from leaning against structures, any leaf litter or burn piles, making sure it’s all tidy and ready,” he said.
“A reminder as well to the farming properties to make sure that we’ve got clear access for our large vehicles and to make sure that property numbers are visible and displayed because that’s always a struggle for us in the more country properties, sometimes the numbers aren’t displayed, which can make it very difficult.”
The Wednesday incidents consisted of two further dry lightning strikes and two burn-offs; one which was being actively monitored by the resident and the other which was not.
Members of Seville CFA will also be present at a pair of upcoming ‘Be Ready for Fire Season’ sessions at the Seville Community House, being held from 2pm to 3pm on Thursday 14 November and Thursday 12 December.
