By KATH GANNAWAY
LESS than half of the more than 100 people attending a fire meeting in Warburton on 16 December were aware of warning messages mentioning Warburton that day.
The messages went out in relation to a fire 20 kilometres north east of Warburton and while they were advisory messages indicating no danger to the Upper Yarra townships, it raised the question of how prepared and aware people are of potential risk.
There was a surreal atmosphere at the meeting with the 33-degree day drawing to a close with the sound of helicopters flying overhead and a rush to close the doors of the packed CFA vehicle bays as speakers were drowned out by the sound of rain pelting down on the tin roof.
The attendance did demonstrate that there is a level of concern for a fire season that authorities are predicting to be one of the worst.
A few hands went up when Warburton CFA Captain Hazel Clothier asked who was aware of the fires in progress “over the hill” at Acheron.
There was no response either to questions on what the rating and warning terms mean that Ms Clothier said would determine the decisions people need to make about what they will do in certain situations.
The meeting aimed to address those issues and information was provided throughout the meeting along with leads to relevant websites and apps.
Virginia McCallum, Community Liaison Bushfire Management officer with CFA District 13 set the scene, saying conditions were about six weeks ahead of what would be expected in a normal summer.
“Grasslands are about 65 per cent cured and the forest is ready burn; in fact it is burning as we speak,” she said.
She said other speakers who had planned to attend the meeting had been at the Incident Control Centre all day.
“I want you to go away from here knowing that the fire season has started,” she said.
Fielding questions on topics from Neighbourhood Safer Places (the lack of), to stay or go options, Code Red and what it means in terminology, impact and response, radiant heat and protective clothing, what to do if caught out in your car, to the need for written fire plans and to check insurance, Ms McCallum spoke informatively and directly.
“You will need more than one fire plan, because things are going to be different on different days of the week,” she said.
“Your plan could depend on what you are doing, but also on different fire ratings if you are using those ratings as a trigger.
“I would say that on a Code Red Day the only way you can be safe is to be well out of the area, and you would need to go the day before,” she said.
A major concern from residents was around restrictions on what work they were allowed to do to remove vegetation to protect their own property, and council and crown land that some residents said was overgrown and a fire risk that was not being addressed.
Ms McCallum said she could not answer on behalf of the council, or other bodies, she gave an undertaking to take those concerns back to the council.
Kevin Bargar from Warburton Emergency Planning Group spoke on the initiatives they were working on.
He said their first priority was to get the ABC repeater station back to provide reliable broadcasts in the Upper Yarra Valley.
He said they were also working with Casey MP Tony Smith on the Mobile Phone Black Spot program.
WEPG meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm at the CFA.
“We’re happy to have people come along and could certainly use some more people to join us as helping hands,” he said.
