Mount cole state park bushfire contained
Mount cole state park bushfire contained
23 January 2017
published by http://www.thecourier.com.au
Australia Forest Fire Management Victoria crews worked for two days to contain a blaze in rocky terrain at the Mount Cole State Park near Warrak on Sunday and Monday.
The fire burnt eight hectares of bush along the Warrak-Branding Yard Track, while firefighters battled to create containment lines in tough conditions.
Incident controller John Rofe said on Monday the fire was likely sparked by a lightning storm during rainfall late last week.
It is currently contained and we have fire crews working on the fire ground today, he said.
Their main focus today is finishing construction of containment lines using hand tools.
Mr Rofe said most of the fire zone was inaccessible to vehicles on Monday.
We have had a bulldozer and firetrucks into a part of the fire, but we have been using ground crews in the steeper rocky part, he said.
We have also been well supported by two fixed wing aircraft from Stawell, which have been utilised constructing what we call retardant lines.
There has also been a water bombing helicopter based at Ballarat, which has assisted attacking the hot spots.
Seventy firefighters from the fire management crews and Country Fire Authority responded to the blaze on Sunday.
Another 40 firefighters continued work to contain the fire on Monday.
Vic Emergency advised there was no threat to the Ben Nevis, Elmhurst, Eversley, Warrak, Buangor and Mount Cole communities on Sunday, and residents should continue to monitor the situation.
Mr Rofe said fire crews would continue work to completely black out the blaze on Monday.
The fire is currently contained and there is no active running fire today, he said.
Ararat Fire Brigade members also completed a burn-off of scrub on the Western Highway between Green Hill Lake Road and Warrayatkin Road on Sunday.
The burn-off was part of an effort to reduce fuel around major townships.
