Central Victorians should keep an ear on the radio, and an eye on conditions, as the area enters one of the first days of “very high” fire danger for the season.
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The CFA has declared that fire danger is very high in the central, north central and northern country regions of Victoria, which cover Bendigo, Castlemaine, Maryborough, Kyneton and Echuca.
The temperature is forecast to soar to 35 degrees in Bendigo on Thursday, before cool change on Friday. Northeasterly winds are expected to turn northwesterly in the early afternoon.
CFA District 2 operations officer Steve Pitcher has warned of heightened risk of grass and bushfires because of dry conditions.
“We’re going to be in for a fairly long hot dry summer, which in terms of fire behaviour is a heightened risk,” Mr Pitcher said.
“There’s plentiful fuel in our environment. We’ve had a dry winter which means most of the fuels available to burn are nearly 100 percent cured to burn.”
Mr Pitcher urged people to stay informed and aware of conditions, and to minimise any activities which could start a fire.
Today has been declared a total fire ban in the Mallee and Wimmera regions.
You can monitor fire conditions at: emergency.vic.gov.au
In case of an emergency call 000.
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