Victorian Bushfire Information Line disconnected
Victorian Bushfire Information Line disconnected
25 February 2014
published by www.heraldsun.com.au
Australia — Wild Dog Valley cattle farmer Robert Cunningham, 75, told the Herald Sun he had been trying to call the Victorian Bushfire Information Line since about 6:30pm after he heard from a fellow resident about a fire burning nearby.
Two hours later, he was still only reaching an automated message alerting him the number was unavailable.
I cant call anyone for details, I cant find out a damn thing about it, Mr Cunningham said.
I dont know exactly where that fire is, Ive got no idea whether its threatening me or anyone else.
CFA State Control Centre duty manager Greg Murphy said the hotline was inoperative for at least 90 minutes due to a telecommunications outage.
It was logged as a priority job, Mr Murphy said.
We have a multilayered approach to providing information.
If one of those layers is offline for a period of time, there are other (avenues).
The Wild Dog Valley fire is listed as safe and is understood to have been sparked by dry lightning that swept across central and eastern parts of the state this afternoon, igniting about 35 grassfires.
