The La Nina weather cycle has brought more spring rains - encouraging grass growth.

The Country Fire Authority's Assistant Chief Fire Officer for District 15, Brett Boatman, said this abundant growth meant the biggest risk this summer would be grass fires.

He said there would still be heatwaves, with the grasslands across the Central Highlands expected to fully cure by the end of December - a little later than normal.

"The risk is that if we have fires, particularly on warm and windy days, that there will be elevated fire behaviour - fires that burn more intensely and are harder to control - that pose a greater risk to the community."

Using the example of the Allendale/ Broomfield fire earlier in the year, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Boatman said these grassfires were typically single-day events.

"They will burn thousands of hectares in a day but will then be largely over except for the clean-up, as opposed to a bushfire that can burn for weeks."

While it is the first fire season since the split between volunteer CFA firefighters and paid firefighters with the creation of Fire Rescue Victoria, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Boatman said it would not affect the response.

The 60 odd CFA brigades across the district have 125 tankers ready to respond to any incidents, while the heavy tankers previously used by career staff at Ballarat City and Lucas prior to the reforms have been retained in the area and are now at Haddon and Buninyong.

The firebombing chopper will begin operating from Ballarat next week, though will only be available from 1-9pm each day.

Noting that this meant aircraft capability was a concern among brigades leading into summer, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Boatman said the CFA had plans to request additional firebombing aircraft for the area ahead of particularly worrying conditions.

While Assistant Chief Fire Officer Boatman said tackling fast-running fires in the landscape was what CFA volunteers were trained to do, social restrictions have disrupted CFA preparations for the upcoming fire season, with face-to-face training put on hold throughout the year.

But as of last week the number of people allowed at training sessions increased to up to 50 people outdoors and 20 indoors.

He said the rains associated with La Nina had provided some extra time for the district's brigades to prepare, with the fire danger period expected to come into place around mid-December.

Aside from training, the CFA has been running pre-fire season briefings online - with information about season readiness and preparedness, lessons learned from previous years and the focus for the season ahead.

RELATED COVERAGE: Police conducting arson investigation ahead of fire season

RELATED COVERAGE: Why you should start preparing your properties for the upcoming fire season

They have discussed how brigades will operate this season in a COVID-safe way, which will include a larger emphasis on the people who conduct tasks such as staging area management. These people will take additional supplies to the fire, such as cleaning kits.

Other equipment such as toilet trailers will also be rolled out more often to allow for handwashing while on the fire ground.

The CFA has also been engaged in discussions with Forest Fire Management Victoria, about the availability of bulldozers, grazers and water tankers.

While CFA is preparing for the fire season ahead, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Boatman said it was just as important for the community to be prepared.

"Everyone needs to know and understand their risk where they are or where they're traveling at any point through the summer," he said.

With widespread farmland across the region and stating that grassfires could occur anywhere in the district with the right conditions, he said families and individuals having a fire plan in place was vital.

As grassfires can move extremely quickly, communities may only have minutes to prepare for an approaching fire.

This means any items planned to be taken should be organised and ready to go if your fire plan involves leaving your property.

"Whilst we've got a delayed start to the fire season, a couple of weeks of warm and dry weather will certainly bring things on - you only need one hot and windy day and we're back in the thick of it."

He added that it was also not too late for property owners across the district to reduce the risk by preparing their properties.

This means removing any overhanging branches around the property, moving the winter woodpile from next to the house, picking up twigs and leaves, cleaning out gutters, pruning and tidying garden areas and keeping grass shorter than 10 centimetres for at least a 30-metre radius around the house.

He encouraged people to ensure equipment was in "good working order" before using it.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Boatman said now was also the time to test fire pumps, sprinkler systems and back-up power generators.

And while burning off is still permitted across the Central Highlands until fire restrictions come into force, he encouraged people to register their burns (on 1800-668-511) to prevent a fire brigade being called to attend.

But he said mulching was also a good option for disposing of green waste, as was taking it to a local transfer station.

CFA will work closely with other agencies - Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) and Fire Rescue Victoria - during the fire season.

FFMVic is also working to prepare the region for the bushfire season - building on fuel management works conducted throughout the year to reduce bushfire risk.

With a team of emergency specialists on standby at Ballarat, Horsham and Ararat Incident Control Centres, FFMVic and partner agencies are ready to respond to emergencies 24/7, while fire lookout observers will return to their posts in the fire towers in coming weeks.

Since mid-last year, FFMVic has conducted planned burns over 7,800 hectares in the Grampians region, including at Daylesford.

Mechanical works have also covered 2,300 hectares, with crews using heavy machinery to mulch flammable vegetation including near the Smythesdale township and 15ha near Daylesford.

Meanwhile, Fire Rescue Victoria Commander, Anthony Pearce, said FRV firefighters would support CFA during the fire season.

FRV firefighters have been preparing for the season by conducting refresher training on wildfire response, aircraft management and incident management while they are also ensuring equipment is ready to respond.

"We will continue to respond to [incidents] in CFA areas and support CFA," he said.

"Both agencies will work seamlessly to ensure that we're serving the community."