CFA to review Ballarat's high fire risk areas

By Kim Quinlan
Updated November 2 2012 - 2:59pm, first published October 29 2010 - 2:31pm
CFA to review Ballarat's high fire risk areas
CFA to review Ballarat's high fire risk areas

THE bushfire-prone areas of Nerrina, Invermay, Brown Hill and Glen Park may be included in a revised Country Fire Authority list of Victorian communities most at risk of bushfires, the CFA said yesterday.Earlier this year these four communities on the outskirts of Ballarat were identified by an expert as being among Victoria's top 14 most dangerous high-risk areas, adding they were at risk of suffering either "blow torch" style fire or firestorms caused by falling embers, like those which devastated the towns of Kinglake and Marysville and killed 173 people on Black Saturday, February 7, last year.However, they were not included among the 52 townships nominated by the CFA as being a high bushfire risk community.Those in the Ballarat region on that list include Blackwood, Creswick, Daylesford, Dereel, Halls Gap, Hepburn, Mount Clear, Mount Helen and Trentham.CFA District 15 operations manager Bernie Fradd said the list of high bushfire risk townships would be revisited after the end of the coming fire danger season."This will be a rolling program and as we get through the bushfire season, we will revisit the high-risk areas," Mr Fradd said. "Far more than 52 townships were originally put up as possible high-risk communities in Victoria. The CFA identifies that townships like Nerrina, Brown Hill, Invermay and Glen Park, even the edge of North Ballarat, are in risk areas where the houses interface with the bush."Mr Fradd said areas where houses and the bush "interfaced" were some of the most dangerous places in bushfire season. "There can be flash points in these areas where fire can run among the houses and they are also difficult areas for (CFA) trucks to get into," Mr Fradd said.Recent wet weather had promoted growth in the forests and grasslands in the region. "We only need a few days of warmer conditions to dry out and become fuel for fires,'' Mr Fradd said.He warned Grampians residents to act now and be properly prepared ahead of the bushfire season. In February this year, Melbourne University bushfire researcher Kevin Tolhurst said 14 towns not burned out on Black Saturday last year could be disasters waiting to happen. He stressed that the list was not comprehensive, but examples of how dangerous some places could be in Victoria.

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