CORANGAMITE Shire is the first south-west area to announce the start of the fire danger period, with restrictions to come into effect from December 12.
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Other shires are not expected to announce the start of their fire danger periods until much closer to Christmas.
Corangamite’s manager of environment and emergency Lyall Bond said high spring rainfall had resulted in extensive grass growth.
“The Bushfire and Natural Hazard Co-operative Research Centre has issued a ‘high potential for bushfires’ outlook for Corangamite Shire,” Mr Bond said.
“Once grasses have cured later in summer we could see grassfires, and also bushfires.
“Residents should prepare by cutting long grass, removing undergrowth and fallen branches which are perfect fire fuel.
“It can be difficult to start thinking about fire fuels and a fire plan when there is still a lot of green grass and water lying around.
"However, it is the best time to prepare.”
With a potentially dangerous summer ahead, Wannon Water has announced it will spend $100,000 in an effort to keep Portland’s water treatment plant safe from bushfires.
The announcement comes as Portland firefighters attended a small fire at a rural block off Derril Road on Sunday. Believed to be accidentally lit, the fire smouldered its way through three metres of pine needles before being brought under control.
Temperatures in Portland reached the mid-20s on Sunday, while Warrnambool reached a top of 28.3 degrees, Port Fairy was a much cooler 23, Mortlake hit 28.4, while Hamilton’s mercury crept above 30 degrees.
The fire danger period is declared by the CFA on a shire-by-shire basis and is dependent on the amount of rain, grassland curing rate and other local conditions.
The fire season can be declared as early as October and could last as long as May.
So far the restrictions have been brought in across nine municipalities in the north of the state.
According to the CFA website “once the Fire Danger Period has been declared … you cannot light a fire in the open air unless you have a permit or comply with certain requirements”.
A Warrnambool Fire Brigade spokesman said he expected fire danger periods wouldn’t arrive in other parts of the south-west until about a week before Christmas or possibly in January.