** High fire danger in Victoria as temperatures soar over next two days ** Please SHARE!! Victorians are being warned to prepare for two days of extreme heat with no relief during the night in what is being described as the most severe fire scenario of the summer season so far. Temperatures will climb to 43 degrees Celsius at Mildura, Swan Hill, Horsham and Echuca today and Saturday, and are forecast to hit 38C and possibly 40C in Melbourne. Total fire bans were declared for eight of nine districts in Victoria last week, excluding East Gippsland, and on Saturday the entire state will be under a total fire ban. That means it is illegal to start a fire in the open, people must not use equipment that could start a fire and campers must not light solid fuel fires. Its a bit early in the season ... but nonetheless its still going to be very dangerous for fires on Saturday and in the east of the state too because the winds will pick up down there, said Scott Williams, a senior forecaster at the weather bureau. We need to make sure that people take the next two days seriously across Victoria, Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said. Its going to be hot. Its going to be dry. Itll be windy. The conditions are conducive for fires to run and if fires start they could be uncontrolled very quickly. Well see severe and extreme fire danger readings in most districts particularly in the west and central parts of Victoria. Acting Victoria Police Commissioner Tim Cartwright called for public to be on the lookout for dangerous behaviour. Its not just arsonists we are worried about, but inactivity, Acting Chief Commissioner Cartwright said. If you are travelling about and see people doing stupid things, campfires shouldnt be alight, we shouldnt be seeing angle grinders, ring triple-0, you can also ring Crime Stoppers. We are well-prepared, we work well with the other services, we need the community to be well-prepared. Earlier this morning, a woman was arrested over a deliberately-lit grassfire in Tatura, in the states north, which followed more than 40 in the past year, police said. Police are investigating at least 40 suspicious fires in the area since last summer. We are talking to this person around a number of fires, Acting Chief Commissioner Cartwright said. We have preventative patrols in an environment. We also run investigations on suspicious people, people we consider to be high risk. Premier urges Victorians to heed fire warning Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said it was up to all Victorians to heed the warnings. A total fire ban means just that and every Victorian should err on the side of caution, Mr Andrews said. If we are all responsible, if we all play our part and do the right thing and dont in any way contribute to a fire starting, that means our state has a much greater chance of being safe and sound over the next 36-48 hours. Paul Holman of the Victorian Ambulance Service said people needed to respect the heat. Unfortunately we dont do that enough in Australia. We seem to think were immune to heat, were a hot country, he said. People just dont respect it. Particularly on the first day and particularly in the city areas. Mr Holman said the biggest danger in terms of heat stress was that overnight temperatures would remain high, meaning people will not have time to recover. That puts the elderly and infirm at particular risk. Last weekend we had nine children locked in cars. Now that was a cool weekend, he said. If we have nine children locked in cars this weekend those children will be in trouble. Information Source - ABC - Nick -
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 02:09:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015