Victoria Police has reactivated its Operation Firesetter this summer, in a bid to to prevent or catch those responsible for blazes which put the community at risk.

Local police will target high risk areas and persons of interest and City of Greater Bendigo Inspector Shane Brundell said dedicated police resources would be allocated on days of severe, extreme or code red fire danger.

“Bushfire arson remains a concern for us in the local community and across the whole state, particularly during the fire danger period,” he said.

“The whole community needs to contribute to reduce the risk of bushfire.”

Inspector Brundell said a large number of fires were started each year as a result of reckless actions, such as burn-offs during the fire danger period, cigarette butts thrown out the window, and camp fires not properly put out.

“Most of these are reckless actions and are preventable,” he said, with a common, but often overlooked, cause of fire being unserviced trailers or caravans being towed.

“People need to change their thinking from accidental to reckless behaviour that is largely preventable.”

Anyone found guilty of recklessly or intentionally causing a bushfire faces a penalty of up to 15 years’ imprisonment.

Lighting a fire on a total fire ban day can also attract a fine of around $37,000 or up to two years in jail.

District two operations manager Bill Johnstone said while the Country Fire Authority wasn’t directly involved in the operation, it still provided support to Victoria Police with the sharing of intelligence.

“The thing that concerns us the most is still the message is not getting through that people do silly things on silly days,” he said.

“There is simply no excuse for lighting fires during the danger period.”

Victoria Police is called to any fire that is believed to have been started intentionally or recklessly and Inspector Brundell said both police and the CFA had zero tolerance for those found doing the wrong thing.

“If anyone in the community sees a person or vehicle behaving in a suspicious manner, record as much detail as you can and phone through to triple-0 immediately,” he said.