CFA district two operations officer Trent McKinnon said there was no sign the already hot and dry conditions would improve any time soon.

“We’ve had a long, dry period and there’s no significant rain forecast throughout the summer either so things have dried out well and truly in terms of both our forests and our grassland so we’re expecting quite an active fire season,” he said.

“Our forests in particular are really, really dry and they’re ready to burn, as we experienced in October down in Lancefield.

“While the grass fuels are dry now, 100 per cent cured, they’re not significant fire loads but as we know on a serious fire day the fire will still progress fairly well.”

But Mr McKinnon said firefighters were well prepared for the season ahead.

“For us as with every year we’re just making sure that all our brigades and our groups are prepared in terms of our local capability, so having the right people with the right training to be able to perform the right roles on the day and making sure all our equipment is in a state of readiness,” he said.

“With the fire activity we experienced in October, which was a little bit earlier than usual, that was bit of training in itself.”

Mr McKinnon said all residents should have a fire plan in place and it was never too late to ensure you were prepared.

“We encourage people to clean up around their properties in a safe way and also make sure they monitor conditions on any fire danger day and listen to their local ABC and monitor social media as well to make sure they’re getting [any] messaging,” he said.

“Make sure they clean up any loose material, make sure the gutters are clean and make sure there’s no flammable materials up against any building that could cause issues.

“Basically just to ensure that their fire plan is well and truly prepared and rehearsed, which it should be by now, now that we’re into the fire season, so just ensure that everyone in their family and their loved ones are aware of what the fire plan is and what to do and make sure they’re in a position to enact it.”

Fire restrictions have been in place in the Bendigo area since November 2.