Fire season warning

AS the fire season heats up, so do the preparations.
More than 150 hills firefighters and 30 trucks converged on Macclesfield recently in a bid to prepare for the upcoming season.
The staged exercise on 19 October involved the CFA, Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and the State Emergency Service.
The scenario for the day was a large bush fire in the Yellingbo reserve that was dropping embers all over Macclesfield.
Macclesfield CFA Captain Sharon Merritt said testing tactical responses to such a blaze was one of the major keys to the day.
She said the day also tested communications systems.
“The fires may have been imaginary but the challenges were as real as the dust,” Ms Merritt said.
Despite no fire danger period being declared as yet, residents are being urged to start planning now for what is expected to be another big season.
DSE last week announced that dry conditions were limiting the number of fuel-reduction burns.
The department has also warned people against burning off on their properties after several recent burns got of control.
A private burn on 18 October, three kilometres from Gembrook, stopped just short of the Bunyip State Forest before crews could get it under control.
DSE group manager Bernard Barbetti said spring burning was reliant on good rainfall, which was still yet to come. He said burning off would be severely impacted if dry conditions continued. “So far, rain has been scarce, so everyone needs to be careful,” he said.