BALLARAT residents in bushfire prone areas have been warned to clean up their properties following a grass fire in Canadian yesterday afternoon.
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Eight tankers from Ballarat, Ballarat City, Buninyong, Sebastopol and Mount Warrenheip fire brigades were called to the blaze near Elsworth and Otway streets.
Crews from Ballarat Fire Brigade were initially called to the scene about 3.40pm, but on arrival requested more units after a set of self storage containers appeared under threat. Firefighters had to burn a section of land in order to maintain control lines and contain the fire.
The self storage containers were saved and less than a hectare of land was burnt.
Lieutenant Mark Cartledge from the Ballarat brigade said the cause of the fire was unknown and investigations were ongoing.
He said the fire should act as a timely warning ahead of summer.
“I can’t emphasise enough that people really need to prepare their properties by cutting grass and removing any fuel sources around the home,” he said.
“The amount of vegetation growth this year has been really high and there are properties around with grass that is knee high and starting to dry out.
“What we’ve seen today shows what the summer could bring.
“People need to be aware of their surroundings and if they do see smoke, contact emergency services quickly so we can get on top of it right away and get it extinguished.”
Lieutenant Cartledge said it was fortunate that yesterday’s fire didn’t spread further.
“If we had higher temps or stronger winds it would have been a big concern for us,” he said.
“It was good work on behalf of the crews who contained the fire very promptly.
“The people who reported it straight away also meant we could get there early and deal with it.”
To report a suspected fire call triple-zero.