Emergency evacuation warning issued for grass fire south-west of Ballarat

Residents south of Ballarat around Skipton, Streatham, Carranballac, and Vite Vite North have been warned to evacuate immediately as a grassfire burns out of control.

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The fire at Yalla-Y-Poora Rd at Streatham was first sighted around 1.40pm as a column of smoke but with strong winds fanning the blaze it quickly spread.

The grassfire is travelling from Carranballac Recreation Reserve in an easterly direction toward Skipton, and expected to impact Skipton at 4.30pm.

Residents have been urged to evacuate immediately and move to a safer location away from the fire.

There is an emergency evacuation order for residents south west of Ballarat with a grassfire expected to impact Skipton at 4.30pm

A relief centre has been opened at Beaufort Community Bank Complex, 39 Park Rd, Beaufort.

Residents in Carranballac, Vita Vite North and Skipton should leave using the Glenelg Hwy toward Skipton, then north to Beaufort via Skipton Rd.

There is also a Watch and Act alert for a grassfire on the Shelford-Mt Mercer Rd at Mount Mercer.

As of 2.30pm, 26 fire trucks and their crews were tackling the blaze which broke out around 2.10pm.

A strike team is being assembled to help fight the blaze as temperatures in the area reached almost 39 degrees.

Wind gusts of up to 82kmh have been recorded at Ballarat during the afternoon.

The Watch and Act advises locals to stay near shelter because the fire is not yet under control.

"This grassfire is travelling in a south-easterly direction from 680 Shelford-Mount Mercer Road towards Paringa," they advise.

A Watch and Act alert has been issued for a fast moving grassfire at Mount Mercer.

Ballarat could also experience severe storms this afternoon, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning that severe thunderstorms are likely across the region until midnight on Friday, January 9.

It comes as ambulance crews from Ballan and Daylesford have been relocated in response to Friday's extreme weather forecast across the region.

In what Ambulance Victoria describe as a declared 'Red Escalation', crews have been relocated from branches in regions declared at catastrophic fire danger risk, and where branches have been identified as high risk because they are close to bushland or have limited road access.

Crews will only enter the zones in the case of serious or life-threatening illness, and only after a risk assessment.

Bureau of Meteorology has warned that severe thunderstorms are likely across the Ballarat region until midnight on Friday January 9.

Trentham's Ambulance Community Officers branch, and the volunteer Blackwood Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) have also been temporarily stood down for the day.

Internal CFA documents show some parts of the central zone, including the Ballarat, Moorabool and Golden Plains local government areas, are actually forecast to have a fire danger in the catastrophic zone.

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