Timboon residents should not rely solely on mobile phones for updates about fires, according to John Reynard.
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He knows too well how quickly properties can be destroyed, as part of his farm near Timboon was burnt in the Ash Wednesday fires.
Mr Reynard is part of a group of Timboon and district residents who have been meeting on a regular basis to discuss how to prepare for bushfires. He said the group had been meeting since late 2018 and still had grave concerns about the risk of fire.
"We just want to alert the community to the potential," Mr Reynard said.
"A lot of people in Timboon knew nothing of it," he said. "The power went off so they went to bed."
Mr Reynard said in addition to that, if the mobile phone towers in the town burn people would be in strife because few people had landlines.
Timboon residents are invited to a meeting at 6.30pm at the town's Senior Citizens Hall on Wednesday.
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