BALLARAT fire agencies are preparing for a busy fire season with dry weather expected to continue into spring.
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Eighteen multi-agency briefings will be held during September and October to ensure all agencies are working together to prepare for the upcoming fire season.
CFA Ballarat duty officer Gavin Hope said the dry winter would pose a number of challenges for local firefighters.
“We could have problems with water supplies because of a lack of runoff into dams and reservoirs,” Mr Hope said.
He said if the dry spell continued through spring, we could expect bushfires to occur earlier in December.
“It’s up to the weather, if it is a long summer with hot windy days, all the ingredients will be there. We are relying on the weather not to be conducive to fire,” he said.
“It’s possibly going to be a dry spring, so we may not get the growth in the grasslands but the forest will dry out instead.”
Mr Hope said incident management training was under way and changes to training would be broadcast to the agencies in coming months.
The Victorian government is predicting an early start to the bushfire season with more fires to occur in December.
The briefings will include representatives from Emergency Management Victoria, CFA, Department of Environment and Primary Industries, MFB, VICSES, Victoria Police, Department of Health, Department of Human Services and local councils.
CFA, DEPI and MFB firefighters fought more than 4600 bush and grass fires last summer, in what was the busiest year since 2009.
david.jeans@fairfaxmedia.com.au