Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) will undertake planned burning in the Stringybark Reserve at Baranduda this autumn.
FFMVic consists of specialist staff drawn from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water and VicForests. These staff work alongside CFA, other emergency services and communities to carry out a fuel management program in Victoria’s public parks and forests to reduce the risk of bushfire to people, property and the environment. Works will help to reduce the fuel (ie flammable vegetation) load, which reduces the risk of a bushfire. If a bushfire does occur in an area where fuel management has occurred, these works can reduce its impact and intensity.
Each burn is part of a three-year Fire Operations Plan that outlines where FFMVic intends to carry out bushfire prevention works. Although burns are scheduled to take place in a certain year and sometimes in a particular season, this can change depending on weather and local conditions.
During this operation, identified Stringybark trees in the reserve will be ‘candled’ to reduce the risk of any future fire spreading from ground level up to the canopy.
On the day the planned burning takes place you can expect to see smoke, flames and operational vehicles. These are a normal part of a planned burn. You may also see small embers carried by the air away from the fire.
If FFMVic considers that, during the planned burn, there is a danger of fire spreading beyond the reserve, either the CFA or FFMVic’s own personnel may enter private land for the purpose of taking necessary steps to prevent or extinguish a fire, restrict its spread, or otherwise to protect life and property.
FFMVic is unable to provide an exact date when this burn will go ahead – the final decision to proceed can only be made on the day of the burn, following monitoring of weather conditions and local fuel moisture levels.
A big thanks to FFMVic for their expert assistance in managing the fuel loads in the Stringybark Reserve on our behalf.
