News

As fire and weather conditions ease across the state following the first very hot day of 2019, firefighters continue to work on two fires that started yesterday at Rosedale in Gippsland and Strathbogie, around 25kms south of Euroa.

The two night fire suppression helicopters from Ballarat and Mangalore were sent to the Rosedale fire in Gippsland and operated for a few hours overnight within a defined area of 500 hectares.

An alarming number of drowning deaths in Victorian waters in December has led to a call for people to be extra vigilant around water.

This week 55 students from the Buninyong Primary School Scotsburn Campus visited Ballarat Airport to thank emergency management personnel who responded to the grass fire on Nashs Road on 6 December.

Victoria’s full night firebombing capability is ready to be deployed, with another significant milestone in Victoria’s night firebombing trial marked yesterday in Mangalore.

In an Australian first, Victoria’s night firebombing capability is officially ready to be deployed.

Seventy-five Victorian firefighters and emergency management personnel will be deployed to Queensland to assist local crews as more than 120 fires continue to burn across the state.

The first day of summer for Victoria comes after heavy localised rainfall in some metropolitan Melbourne areas in the past few weeks and a Total Fire Ban declaration in the Mallee and Wimmera weather districts for 1 December, 2018.

Victoria will send approximately 80 firefighters and incident management personnel to Queensland to help that State as it battles more than 80 fires with conditions expected to worsen.

Victoria’s night firebombing trial will continue in 2018-19 summer and test the use of night vision technology for aerial firebombing operations at night.