Country Fire Authority district 16 operations manager Bernie Fradd, based in Ararat, reiterated that now was the time to be seriously cleaning up around properties before the fire danger period comes was in place – before Christmas.

Mr Fradd said extensively spring growth was drying out fairly quickly across enormous grass areas and crops and fire was fast becoming a serious concern across the state’s west, depending how quickly grass continued to dry out.

His warning comes in the wake of Emergency Management Victoria’s summer fire campaign launch in regional Victoria on Sunday night.

The Courier reported last week Ballarat firefighters had already attended a number of grass fires in late November. Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley had confirmed a fleet of fire bombing aircraft would be automatically sent to any scrub or grass fires on high risk days this summer so firefighters could attack fires to stop them from spreading out of control. 

But regional Victorians are urged to be better prepared and plan now for a summer with significant fire risk. The campaign also calls on Victorians to be ready for extreme weather conditions, including smoke health, extreme heat and water safety.

Ms Lapsley said everyone must prepare properties now and make critical decisions early so there was no “grey area” when it comes to fire.

“You need to do fire prevention works and you need to do that now and continue to follow it up,” Mr Lapsley said. “The first few weeks of December is the best time to get ready because once we get to Christmas, it gets busy and all the other things, like fire preparedness, gets forgotten about.”