Victoria?s fire services warn of severe fire threat
Victoria is extremely vulnerable to fires ahead of more extreme weather conditions this week. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting temperatures in the 30s for Monday with northerly winds and a late change leading to very high to locally extreme fire danger.
The forecast shows extreme forest fire danger in the Mallee, and very high fire danger (forest and grassland) elsewhere except in East Gippsland. There is little chance of rain, other than on Wednesday afternoon, when thunderstorms are predicted for the western part of the state.
The area of particular concern is the Warburton Valley. Residents in the valley will be most at risk following the wind change due late afternoon on Monday, and are advised to have a fire plan ready.
CFA and DSE advise residents in the Warburton Valley that if they decide to leave, they should leave early on either Sunday evening or early Monday morning. If fire does reach the valley, residents who have left should be prepared to stay away for several days. With limited road access in the Warburton Valley, the roads are a dangerous place to be during a fire threat.
Residents in the Yarra Valley including communities in the vicinity of Warburton, East Warburton, McMahons Creek, Reefton, Wesburn, Millgrove, Yarra Junction, Gladysdale, Powelltown, Enoch Point, Launching Place, Don Valley, Hoddles Creek, Woori Yallock, Yellingbo, Seville, Wandin and McMahons Creek, are advised to have their fire plans ready, and to be aware of the high level of activity on the roads.
I live in Mt Evelyn which is about 40 min drive to Warburton going through all towns afore mentioned. Then next town to me is Wandin. I will definately have our fire plan ready - Get Out! May even consider not sending DD to school.
well a HUGE thankyou to you lucy for giving me and the kids that heads up. i seriously would not have known as i dont have a ocmputer/tv/radio at the house atm as it is empty while i renovate it. I was mid painting the kids rooms when i got lucys txt...
The dogs wouldnt come with me im broken and i am praying the fire stays away... df and i were dscussing going back there in the morning to water the house down and do whatever we can to make sure it survives, but then as he said, it seriously isnt worth it, incase ... you know.. so.. i dont think we will be but im so worried about the dogs. They are 12 and 13, the 13 year old is the main one, she was adamant she didnt wanna leave, whenever i tried to grab her she gave me the stern threat to leave her alone, she wants going... and the other one well, he was happy to come but he also didnt wanna leave her. So, i had to leave them there.
It was so eary driving away, the sun through the smooke which is so thick.
I just could not believe the amount of tourists up in warburton ARGH. i went up to get some smudge sticks (whilst i was on the phone with you lucy actually lol) and got to warby and omg, so many people... and, i couldnt believe what they were saying. WHY anyone who doesnt live in the area's would delibrately put themselves there is just BEYOND me.. it was a busy as it would be on a normal sunday, which for anyone who knows warby.. it gets so so so so busy..... sighs
anyhow so now, time will tell whether we will be moving into our house come next weekend, or if we will be hiring a trailer to put there
I was just getting so frustrated with the chick on 774 and the CFA guy who were kinda arguing a mute point on whether its an "evauation" of warby/valley residents or not. Seriously, it is.. they cant say its not... yes its NOT a forced evac, but its a voluntry evac, for all those who are leaving and trust me there i heaps,.. there were HEAPS heading out of the valley which for a sundau night is not usual... alot of them with horse floats loaded with horse's or other animals.. one guy had his poor cat inits cage in the back of a ute lol.. but better than being in a fire i guess. but yeah... they cant say its not an evauation, as it is.. it just is a voluntry one. logistics wouldnt allow a forced one! With one way out up therem youd be crazy not to leave tonight!
Argh so anyways.... i doubt ill be sleeping much tonight.
Again, lulu i cant thank you enough to giving me that heads up. You are an angel! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
S'ok mate, I had a feeling you were up there today.
I'm calling MIL and insisting she comes down early in the morning. I've been on the DSE website, the alerts are clear and I wish they had already left ggrrrrr.
Papillion, can you call a neighbour for the dogs? My MIL already has 3 dogs, a cat and 2 birds loaded up in her car, as well as an elderly neighbour...
oh gosh how scary I was just on msn and a friend of mine had "packing up the car" as her status. I wasn't sure why until she said they lived there and she was packing up some things and her LO who is 1 and leaving.
apparentley the warby hwy is completely backed up with cars, floats, trailers etc. people are congreagating at lilydale showgrounds with their horses etc.
At this point there is no threat to houses. I'm glad everyone is getting out though, lots went last night. MIL is pretty stressed.
I do think you would be mad to go Rainy. There is no threat to you, short of a firebug, but you can actually get onto the CFA website and hear them despactching jobs (well sil did the other night), so you can hear it in the background. Also don't forget, the conditions are good for fires today, they were TOTALLY freaky 2 weeks ago, and thats not the same.
Keep checking for alert messages on the web though. xoxoxoxo
It's so weirdly stressful, like waiting for the other shoe to drop...
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Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
High Fire Alert - Warburton Valley and surrounds
my family's old holiday house that my grandfather built is in Warburton... gee I hope there is a big change in the weather soon.
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