The Regional Control Centre in Queen Street was buzzing on Friday as temperatures pushed past 40 degrees.
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Regional controller Mike Wassing oversees emergency services’ response to the heat related issues that arise on days with a severe or extreme fire danger warning.
Mr Wassing is responsible for coordinating the efforts of individual incident controllers in Mildura, Swan Hill, Bendigo and Gisborne to deal with any incidents that might occur.
“They’re our critical front line people that support our troops on the ground,” he said.
“When a fire or any incident occurs the first thing that‘s really happening, most importantly, is the normal fire response from our fire crews, from all of our organisations, that first attack is essential.”
Mr Wassing said the centre’s primary role was to make sure those front line crews are supported with whatever resources they need while focusing on the risks and consequences of any potential incident.
“We look at the worst case scenarios, and the likely scenarios, and what that actually means for people in terms of life risk, or what it actually means in terms of assets. If certain assets are damaged that can cascade into long term issues for communities, so that’s where our focus is in terms of planning,” he said.
“Our links to the emergency management organisations can tell us what occurs if a local telephone exchange is impacted or there is a power outage and what does that mean, and so again we can support the community which are our customers and our focus.”
He said the heat was the biggest factor in terms of risk which was reflected in the heat health warning issued by the Victorian Health Department.
“So if you’re inside we’re asking people to remain vigilant for, not just bushfire risk, but to keep themselves hydrated,” he said.
Mr Wassing urged Victorian’s to heed all advice from emergency services until Saturday night when he was hopeful a cooler change would move through most of the state.
“Tomorrow we’ll see a wind change come through and that will increase the winds and therefore the bushfire risk” he said.
“In combination with that, because of the wind, we’ve also in some parts of the state got the risk of storm damage, so it’s a big day for us tomorrow and we’re asking people to be vigilant. We’re very conscious this time of year (there are) a lot of people travelling, a lot of people camping and we’ve already had a number of campfires we’ve had to extinguish.”
The weather bureau has issued a severe weather warning for parts of the South West, Central and West and South Gippsland districts early on Saturday morning, particularly over elevated areas.
“If you’re camping you can’t have a fire, it’s a total fire ban today and it’s a total fire ban tomorrow,” Mr Wassing said.
He said no part of the state was free from the threat of bushfires while conditions remained at the level expected over the next 24 hours.
“We’re seeing grassland area fires burn very intensely and very quickly. Our highest risk locations for life risk remain where people live in the bush, our interface areas of Bendigo right through to the Macedon Ranges, but also parts of north central Victoria like Inglewood are also high risk locations for us,” he said.
“If you live in a high risk location the key message is leave early, that means leave either the day before or the morning of, and again recognising the heat potential, particularly for the young and the elderly that are at most risk. Find a cool place, whether that’s your home, or at the local supermarket,. There’s plenty of nice places.”
“We’re also very conscious of the river country given that we’ve got a lot of campers along the Murray River and campfires are the greatest risk there.”
Mr Wassing said the best way to keep informed of warnings and advice was to have multiple ways of doing so including through ABC Local Radio and other media outlets.
He said the CFA FireReady app was a good way to get the heads up on a fire but wouldn’t necessarily provide all the detail.
“We ask people, if you receive information, whether it’s through the app or online, share it with your friends and family,” he said.
“Be vigilant, have a look around you, if you see smoke and it’s heading towards you that means the fire’s heading towards you, and make sure you’re not there.”