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Firefighters prepare defences as catastrophic fire danger declared for Wednesday By Lachlan Abbott and Madeleine Heffernan Updated February 26, 2024 — 6.18pmfirst published at 8.19am

Firefighters are scrambling to prepare defences near an out-of-control bushfire in Victoria’s west after a catastrophic fire danger rating was declared for Wednesday – just the second such warning issued since the Black Summer fires.

Beaufort, Raglan, Elmhurst and Amphitheatre are among the towns on high alert as residents still assess the damage from the blaze that started near Bayindeen, west of Ballarat, on Thursday, which has destroyed at least six houses and burnt through about 20,000 hectares.

Victoria is bracing for another week of tough fire conditions.

CFA chief Jason Heffernan has said Wednesday could bring the worst fire conditions in four years. A State Control Centre spokesperson said it was the first year in which two catastrophic fire rating days had occurred after another was issued on February 13.

Wednesday’s catastrophic rating applies only to the Wimmera. An extreme rating is forecast for every other Victorian fire district apart from the north-east and Gippsland zones.

Two current watch and act alerts and four advice messages were updated on Monday afternoon for dozens of hamlets in the Pyrenees Shire.

“Weather conditions are favourable for firefighting efforts and burning out activities will occur in the next 24 hours,” the alerts say.

“This work is required ahead of Wednesday’s predicted extreme fire danger rating. [Communities] may notice an increase in smoke in the area while the burning out activities are undertaken.”

Garry Cook, the state response controller at the State Control Centre, said more than 500 firefighters and multiple aircraft were battling the fire in thick bushland.

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“They will be doing everything they can,” Cook told Nine News on Monday, “and concentrating their efforts on the southern edge as well, as that wind swings around to the north tomorrow and, in particular, on Wednesday.”

Cook said it was disappointing that a man allegedly drove a car on its rims, sparking spot fires along the Western Highway near the current fire zone on Sunday night.

Triple-zero callers reported a green Mitsubishi Magna was travelling on its rims in Buangor, 180 kilometres west of Melbourne, after 6pm. Sparks from the car allegedly lit four separate small fires in grass along the highway that fire crews then extinguished.

In a statement, Victoria Police said the vehicle was driven erratically into the fire-affected town of Beaufort, at times on the wrong side of the road, before nearly hitting a pedestrian.

The driver then dumped the car in parkland, before locals chased and held him until police arrived.

A 27-year-old Sebastopol man was charged with two counts of reckless conduct endangering serious injury, driving while disqualified, careless driving and using an unroadworthy and unregistered motor vehicle.

Beaufort had to be evacuated last week as a bushfire bore down on the town before a wind change pushed it away to the north-east.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast windy conditions and near-40 degree temperatures will return across much of the state’s west on Wednesday.

Melbourne is expected to reach 38 degrees. Mildura has been forecast to hit 44 degrees. While the temperature in Ararat, near the current fire zone, is predicted to climb to 38 degrees.

Forecasters predict north to north-easterly winds of up to 50km/h that will shift to westerly winds in the afternoon.

Victorian Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes has assured communities near the current fire in western Victoria that authorities are prepared.

“The advice I have is that even if it was perfect conditions, this is a fire that would take up to three weeks to fully extinguish,” she told ABC Melbourne.

Symes urged those in fire-prone areas to prepare their fire plans, describing the forecast extreme conditions as “a call to arms.”

Sarah Beaumont evacuated her property, seven kilometres from Beaufort, after Thursday’s fire started, and said she would do it again if needed on Wednesday.

“I was an anxious mess, as you can imagine. This is so traumatic for the community. It’s so devastating, really,” she told 3AW.

Sarah said her husband last week stayed to defend their property, Eurambeen Historic Homestead and Gardens, but would consider evacuation this week.

“If it’s really dangerous, he would also leave. But I think because of the nature of the property, it’s a very old 1850s homestead, we would like to save it if we were faced with catastrophic fire.”

Pyrenees Shire Mayor Robert Vance said about 250 people had attended a fire safety meeting on Sunday in Beaufort and the atmosphere was eerie ahead of the looming fire danger. He said winds caused last week’s fire to jump kilometres ahead of the original front.

“People in Ballarat were getting ash and burnt leaves, and this was 25, 30 kilometres away,” he told ABC Radio National.

Country Fire Authority chief officer Jason Heffernan said smoke from the fire near Beaufort would continue to spread, having reached Melbourne and southern NSW.