With massive grass growth in the Ballarat region this year, the CFA has urged locals to maintain their properties and remain vigilant this summer.District 15 duty officer Steve Smith said the region has had a “couple of periods” of rain followed by warmer weather, which provided ideal growing conditions.“We’re coming into a warmer period now so things will start to dry off,” he said.“It looks like the grass is pretty consistent across the district, but it usually dries up a bit earlier in the north.”Mr Smith said there was always a fire risk with large fuel loads in the region, but said most of the time it was up to people to avoid starting fires.“There is a considerable amount of grass in the area, but whether or not it’s a bad season usually depends a lot on whether people start fires,” he said.Deputy Premier Peter Ryan yesterday warned people to be wary of the “ever present’’ threat of serious blazes in the state.In a breakfast address to the Rural Press Club of Victoria, Mr Ryan reminded all residents of high-fire-risk areas, or travelling through the, to develop a bushfire safety plan. While Victoria’s heavily forested areas will be at risk of bushfire when the rain ceases and fuel dries, fire authorities are sending a clear message this season that grass fires are likely to pose the bigger threat. They have issued a number of recent warnings that grass fires move fast, can be fatal and should not be underestimated.“For this season, the threat uppermost is grass fires,’’ Mr Ryan said. “We have had a wet season, we have seen prolific growth. It is now drying and it is ready to burn. Grass fires historically, they are easy to ignite, they travel quickly and they kill. That is the reality of grass fires.’’Mr Ryan said the government had committed more than $900 million in response to the 67 recommendations made by the Bushfires Royal Commission.