CFA battling the Raglan fire
FIRE crews took about three hours to contain an out-of-control fire near Beaufort yesterday.
CFA tankers and Department of Sustainability and Environment crews both fought the blaze, which burnt out about 25 hectares in total.
The fire, at a blue-gum plantation on Eurambeen-Raglan Road, about five kilometres west of Beaufort, was reported as being out of control about 1.45pm.
It had started from a private burn-off from Saturday that had been left unattended.
Sixteen CFA crews from the surrounding district fought to control the blaze, which was finally brought under control about 5pm.
There were no lives or property under threat by the fire, although smoke could be seen from Ballarat.
CFA operations officer for District 16 Ross Anderson praised the efforts of the CFA crews, who were expected to remain at the blaze until midnight last night.
Crews from Raglan will continue to monitor the area today to ensure it does not catch fire again.
“The bush was dry enough for it to flare up, but we were lucky there wasn’t a lot of wind out there,” said Mr Anderson.
“The crews worked really well out there. They were able to get it tracked fairly quickly.
“They’ve done a fantastic job in containing it.”
Mr Anderson said although it was a couple of months before the bushfire season really started, it was a timely reminder for people to be extra cautious when doing any sort of burning off.
Some machinery, including aircraft, was not able to attend the blaze as it was not fully equipped yet.
“It was a bit of an early wake-up call for the crews,” Mr Anderson said. “People have to know they need to remain in attendance and if you do leave the fire it has to be completely extinguished.”
pat.nolan@thecourier.com.au
