Free emergency details available here.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Buninyong residents were told their lives were in danger as a large fire tore through the bush on Thursday afternoon.
Many evacuated but at this point there have been no injuries or homes lost.
This page will be updated throughout the day and will help you stay on top of the latest fire news.
Friday will be windy with a maximum temperature of 36 degrees.
UPDATES HERE
UPDATE, 3.15PM: Photos show the aftermath of the fire
Our photographer Kate Healy has just been granted access for a guided tour of the fire grounds.
The flames have passed (aside from a few blackened trees here and there), with only the charred remains left.
One house in particular came frightfully close to destruction, with signs of flames just metres away.
See the gallery above for all the photos.
UPDATE, 2.30PM: From one natural disaster to another
Coral Loader has faced her fair share of natural disasters: floods and fires have been unwelcome visitors for the Buninyong resident over the past few years.
Read her story here.
UPDATE, 12.51PM: Questions raised over road blocks
Peter Curran is frustrated at the inconsistency of road closures around Thursday's fire south of Buninyong.
Mr Curran lives in Finns Road about 350m from where the fire began and although the flames were travelling away from his property, he was keen to move several heavily pregnant horses.
When his adult daughters arrived at the corner of the Midland Highway and Finns Rd with horse floats attached to their vehicles, police refused to allow them to drive down Finns Rd but did allow them to walk down.
"It's crazy that they weren't allowed to drive but they were allowed to walk to the property," he said.
"I can understand not letting anyone go down at all, but to allow people to walk is a bit irresponsible."
Senior Sergeant Peter McCormick, who attended the community meeting at Buninyong Town Hall, said he would look in to the incident.
Mr Curran said he wasn't concerned the fire would take hold on his property.
"We haven't got forest, we are just open grazing land which is still pretty green but we've got a couple of mares due to foal within a few days and another who had her foal a few days ago," he said.
UPDATE, 11.30AM FRIDAY: ‘Don’t do anything to cause the next fire’
About 200 residents of Buninyong and Scotsburn packed in to the Buninyong Town Hall for a bushfire information session at 10am while 80 to 100 firefighters from the CFA and Forest Fire Management Victoria were working to extinguish the remains of the blaze.
Deputy incident controller Brett Boatman said fresh crews were called in from Grenville overnight and a helicopter had overflown the fire this morning looking for hotspots that could potentially flare up with today's heat and wind.
During the height of the firefight late yesterday, nine aircraft were dropping water on the blaze as firecrews worked on the ground.
Evacuations were ordered for residents in the fire's path with about 33 registering at the relief centre at Buninyong Football Netball Club on Thursday.
Fire crews are patrolling, blacking out and consolidating containment lines ahead of an expected increase in wind speed to 40km/h to 60km/h this afternoon.
Mr Boatman said today's temperature was expected to hit 35 degrees at 3pm with humidity a low 16 per cent.
"Our appeal to the public is don't do anything today that could cause the next fire we have to go and resource and cause impact on the community," he said.
UPDATE, 10.50AM FRIDAY: Meredith Music Festival to go ahead as planned
The Meredith Music Festival will go ahead as planned despite the Buninyong fire that is still moving in a southerly direction.
Read more here.
UPDATE, 10AM FRIDAY: Watch the Town hall meeting live here
UPDATE, 6.50AM FRIDAY: Town meeting to be held this morning
A town meeting will be held in Buninyong this morning, with the fire now officially under control.
A “watch and act” warning remains in place for people in the Durham Lead, Grenville and Scotsburn areas, with extreme temperatures forecast today.
Firefighters have been able to stop the spread of fire, with at least a dozen crews still on scene to ensure it doesn’t break out again.
Additional crews have been brought in from other regions to assist.
One shed has been destroyed, but no houses have been lost.
People have been told to stay close to a building with shelter, as it is the safest option as conditions can change suddenly.
Continue to stay informed and monitor conditions.
The meeting will be held at Buninyong Town Hall, 309A Learmonth Street, at 10am. All agencies will be on hand.
UPDATE, 9.15PM: Preparations to reinforce containment ahead of hot forecast
Firefighting crews will work through the night to ensure the Scotsburn fire containment lines are reinforced ahead of hot and windy conditions forecast tomorrow. Ballarat is expected to reach a top of 36C.
Road blockages to streets off inbound lanes on the Midland Highway will remain closed. These stretch back to Pryors Road.
Residents are expected to be allowed back into their homes soon, depending on the next stage of containment.
Ballarat Incident Control Centre operations officer Peter Kandlewis said this was not just about containment and management anymore – work was acutely focused on preparations for tomorrow in high-risk conditions.
UPDATE, 6.47PM: Emergency warnings downgraded
The emergency warnings have been downgraded to “watch and act”.
That concludes The Courier’s live coverage of the fire, we will bring you more stories in the coming hours and days. Good evening.
Here's what we know so far about the Buninyong bushfire:
- The fire is about 40 hectares in size. The CFA has been able to slow down its spread, but the fire is still out-of-control. Incident controller Gavin Hope said crews were now focused on containing the fire.
- At this stage it does not appear any homes or sheds were damaged in the fire, and no injuries or cattle deaths have so far been reported.
- A total of 19 fire trucks, four firefighting aircraft and nine strike teams are currently battling the blaze. In additon bulldozers are creating fire breaks. "We've hit the fire hard," he said.
UPDATE, 6.12PM: Firefighters gain the upper hand
Firefighters say they have got on top of the blaze and have stopped it spreading.
CFA Region 15 Operation Duty Officer Gavin Hope said it appeared there had not been any structural losses and there were no reports of any stock losses.
“We believe we've stopped the advancement of the fire,” he told 3BA.
“We believe there haven't been any losses of property in terms of houses, sheds, that type of thing.
“We're getting fire investigators to the scene to determine the cause.
“That forest area there is very dry, with a bit of warmth and wind it just shows you it doesn't take much for fires to get going with the type of fire season we've got.”
UPDATE, 6.06PM: Locals speak of fleeing the fire
Anne Bonighton, general manager at Galwiji Homestead, which is less than two kilometres away from the fire, said she saw thick, black smoke billowing in the air.
She evacuated at 3pm as fire moved precariously close to the holiday rental homestead.
“It’s a little bit stressful, and I’m very concerned for other residents in the area, especially the ones who lost properties in the fires in 2015,” she said.
Another bushfire raged in the area about three years ago and the homestead came dangerously close to being burned to the ground, she said.
Robert Taylor said he was bracing to evacuate if, or when, the wind changed direction.
The Mount Buninyong Winery and Restaurant owner was assisting fire crews to put out spot fires which were threatening nearby properties.
“The last fire was horrific,” Mr Taylor said. “We nearly lost a lot.”
Scotsburn resident, Eric, who lives in Scotts Lane near where the fire is burning said he was preparing to evacuate his home.
"We've been told it's not safe to stay here anymore," he said.
"I've seen this all before. We've had a few fires here in recent years.
“The first thing I noticed was the birds all flying away and I looked outside and saw the smoke. We've all got fire safety plans here, we have to. It's what you've got to do when you live in the bush. You just grab what you can and hope to goodness nothing happens."
The blaze comes in the midst of a mini-heatwave, with hot northerly winds pushing the mercury above 33 in Ballarat on Thursday and parts of Victoria tipped to reach 40 degrees on Friday.
UPDATE, 5.57PM: Update on emergency warning areas
The CFA has updated its emergency warnings for the Buninyong fire, which is burning out of control and about 40 hectares in size near Ballarat. The fire is travelling south due to southerly winds, but is moving slower than it had been earlier this afternoon.
An emergency bushfire warning is in place for the red zone, and anyone in this section is being urged to take shelter indoors as it is too dangerous to attempt to flee the area.
In the orange zone, a watch and act is in place, which is urging people to evacuate the area.
UPDATE, 5.35PM: What we know so far
The out-of-control fire is about 40 hectares in size. A Country Fire Authority spokesman said it had not been advancing or spreading much in the past hour.
A total of 19 fire trucks, four firefighting aircraft and nine strike teams are currently battling the blaze. In additon bulldozers are creating fire breaks, the spokesman said.
Emergency warnings have been issued for people in the Buninyong and Scotsburn area to remain indoors.
It is about 32 degrees in Ballarat and winds are gusting from the north at about 25 km/h. Weather conditions are not expected to change in the next few hours.
Total fire bans have been declared on Friday in the state's north and north-west, with the mercury set to rise above 40 degrees in some regional centres.
The Mallee, Wimmera and Northern Country regions will all be subject to total fire bans.
The CFA is urging those in the Buninyong area to keep checking the Vic Emergency website for the latest information.
UPDATE, 5.18PM: What’s the weather like?
It's 32.7 degrees in the Ballarat area right now and there are winds from the north blowing at about 25-30 km/h.
Conditions have been like this for the past couple of hours, and Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Richard Russell says they will likely stay that way for the next few hours.
He said into the evening the winds may ease, but the wind speed will pick up again in the morning.
UPDATE, 5.10PM: “Scotsburn resident: we saw a lot of black smoke”
Scotsburn resident Dale Woolard was driving home with his younger sister in their car when they spotted the blaze burning out control and moving quickly in the direction of the town.
"We saw a lot of black smoke coming from over the hill and we had to stop and pull over until everything was all right," he said.
UPDATE, 4.45PM: Another emergency warning has just been issued.
The message says firefighters have been unable to stop the fire and it has crossed Scotts Lane and is moving towards Pryors Road.
It continues to travel in a southerly direction.
It says people in the area “are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave, leaving now would be deadly.”
UPDATE, 4PM: The fire has now crossed Scotts Lane, prompting yet another warning message from the CFA.
People in the Brennans Road, Pryors Road and Platts Road areas have been told it’s too late to leave.
UPDATE, 3.54PM: A third warning has just been issued as the fire continues to burn out of control.
A “watch and act” has been issued for Durham Lead and Scotsburn, to the south of where the fire is burning.
A “watch and act” is one grade down from an “emergency warning”.
People in these areas are advised to leave immediately.
UPDATE, 3.40PM: Another emergency warning has just been issued.
The warning has been issued for Brennans Rd and Pryors Rd.
There are at least 20 CFA units fighting the blaze.
UPDATE, 3.10PM: An emergency warning has now been issued for Buninyong and Scotsburn.
There is a bushfire in the vicinity of Devonshire Rd and Nashs Rd Buninyong that is out of control.
It is travelling in a southerly direction towards Brennans Rd.
This fire is threatening homes and lives.
This message is for you if you are at south of Devonshire Rd.
You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave, leaving now would be deadly.
EARLIER, 3PM: Firefighters are currently fighting an out-of-control bushfire in Buninyong.
It is understood air support has been called in to help fight the blaze, which is burning to the south of the Midland Highway.
The fire is burning near the corner of Devonshire Road and Nash’s Road.
Crews were first called about 2.35pm, when the mercury in Ballarat was sitting at about 31 degrees.
As of 3pm, there were eight units tackling the blaze.
A lot of smoke is visible in the area.
The fire is in relatively dense trees.
UPDATE, 4.45PM: Another emergency warning has just been issued.
The message says firefighters have been unable to stop the fire and it has crossed Scotts Lane and is moving towards Pryors Road.
It continues to travel in a southerly direction.
It says people in the area “are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave, leaving now would be deadly.”