FIREFIGHTERS have worked tirelessly to contain the Terang fire and hope to be “99 per cent there” by the weekend, according to incident controller Les Vearing.
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Hundreds of people attended a community meeting at Cobden on Wednesday to hear the latest updates about the fire.
Mr Vearing said firefighters were working hard to secure a 30-metre perimeter around the fire.
“There’s probably a couple more days at least trying to secure the 30-metre edge,” he said.
Mr Vearing said in addition to the perimeter, crews were keeping a close eye on unburnt patches.
“There are some unburnt pockets – the fire obviously burnt so fast on Saturday night it skipped some places – there’s gaps in the middle and some of those little pockets will relight.”
Mr Vearing said the fire could have been up to 10 times worse. “With the scale of the fire and the amount of houses that have been lost – not to lose a single life is quite incredible,” he said.
Mr Vearing said road assessments were being conducted across the region.
“We are trying to get that done as quickly as we can,” he said.
Mr Vearing estimated the assessments would take another few days.
Corangamite Shire Council chief executive officer Andrew Mason encouraged residents to contact council if they needed assistance.
“If you have problems or issues feel free to call us,” Mr Mason said.
“Once the fire is under control we really enter a busy period to help people with recovery and relief.”
Building surveyors will begin to assess damage at homes and council is offering asbestos suits to residents who want to visit their damaged property.
Council can also assist with livestock burial and has made its saleyards available for the sale of fire-affected cattle.
In addition to that the council is offering free green waste and waste disposal for residents whose property was affected by fire or storm and skips for people with damaged sheds.