Total fire ban declared

CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said the total fire ban for the whole state had been declared due to the major fires still in the landscape and the potential for new fires to start and spread quickly in forecasted conditions.

‘’We understand it is a long weekend, and many Victorians will be enjoying the great outdoors, but we will be declaring several total fire bans over the course of this heatwave event and with that comes shared responsibility,’’ he said.

Hot, north to north-westerly winds will gust up to 60km/h and cross central and western parts before changing to a gusty south-westerly of up to 70km/h in the late afternoon.

Saturday’s hot, dry conditions, particularly in the western and southern parts, coupled with extreme fire danger ratings in the south-west and Wimmera districts, will make it a challenging day for firefighters.

A total fire ban means no fire can be lit in the open air or allowed to remain alight from 12.01am to 11.59pm on the day.

“Over the next couple of days, have your bushfire plan ready to go, and have a conversation with your family so you all know what you are going to do in the event of a fire,’’ Mr Heffernan said.

‘’Please maintain vigilance by having the VicEmergency app with watch zones set to where you are headed and have a battery-powered radio on hand tuned to your emergency broadcaster.’’

Victorians should also make sure they have access to more than one source of information. They include:

For information on what you can and can't do visit the Can I or Can't I page on the CFA website.

People can find out if it is a total fire ban on the CFA website www.cfa.vic.gov.au, where it is usually published by 5pm the day before.