Submitted by daniel on Sun, 11/01/2026 - 03:42 Picture Image Description Skipton, Carranballac and Streatham residents are pleading not to be the forgotten victims of Friday's statewide bushfires, which destroyed hundreds of homes across Victoria. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading Holiday Offer All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All other in your area At least six properties are confirmed to be destroyed between Streatham to the west and Skipton to the east, across a more than 20,000 hectare region, including the clubrooms at the Carranballac Cricket Club after the fire began on Friday, January 9. At least six homes, including this one at Carranballac, have been known to be lost, with that number expected to grow. Picture Jenna Breen It is expected the number of properties destroyed will rise significantly once crews access areas on the ground, which are still too dangerous, mostly due to fallen power lines. It was hoped that mapping would be completed by Sunday night. While there has been significant property loss, livestock and animal deaths, there have been no reported human deaths or injuries. Incident controller Chris Eagle told The Courier the fire itself had been contained and work was happening as quickly as possible to make the region safe for residents to return. "We still have some areas in the middle we are working on, but the perimeter is now contained," he said. "We've brought a lot of traffic points closer to the edge of the fire ground boundary, so people who are not impacted can get back home and we're working through the tree treatment, clearing some roads and getting power connected and hopefully we'll start to do that by Monday. Incident controller Chris Eagle speaks at a public meeting in Skitpon on Saturday afternoon. Picture by Kate Healy "By the latest, Tuesday, is when we should have the Glenelg Highway fully open." Mr Eagle said the total number of properties lost were unknown. "We were working on six yesterday (Saturday); we expect that will go up, but right now we don't know exactly," he said. "We've got two impact assessment teams working on Sunday. We can see from the air, there are lots of piles of buildings and ash, but right now we don't know if they are old unoccupied houses, sheds, hay sheds, farm machinery sheds, so we're out doing that collection as we speak. "Hopefully we'll get all that information through tonight when the crews come back in, so we can pass on the details to the local councils and start notifying people tomorrow (Monday)." Blackened grassland surrounds most of Skipton; Picture by Kate Healy The other fire in the region, west of Meredith was still listed as 'out of control' on Sunday, January 11, with 24 vehicles on the scene. However, it was not posing any direct threat to nearby communities. A 'fragile' community under pressure Corangamite Shire mayor Kate Makin said the region had another tough battle ahead having only recently recovered from significant flooding. "This is a very resilient community, but in the same breath, they are very fragile at the moment and they are feeling the pain and the effects. It is our job to wrap our arms around the community, show some love and let them know we have their backs and are here to support them," she said. Fire crews from all across the state battled the blaze which started at Streatham. Picture by Kate Healy "We will be opening a recovery hub here at Skipton from Sunday 10am-4pm and it will be open as far as it needs to be into the future. "If anyone has any questions that they need answered, come here, we will get all the information for you, whether it's about relief payments, health, we will have resources here where you can come and speak to whoever you need." Cr Makin said the community had been affected by natural disasters too often and could not be forgotten among all the other fires that have impacted the state. "We've had floods, now fires. People have lost their homes, their livestock, their hay that they've worked so hard to get back after drought. "It's like a hit, after hit, after hit, and how many more hits can they take? I truly don't know. I'm really concerned about this community and it's so crucial for us all to wrap our arms around them and give them the support they require." Blackended paddocks near Skipton. Picture by Kate Healy Cricket club and power repairs Representatives of the Carranballac Cricket Club did not wish to comment on what had occurred at the club, however, Grenville Cricket Association president Andrew Doolan said the whole competition would do everything it could to support them to get back on their feet. "Our thoughts are particularly with Carranballac Cricket Club and the wider Carranballac and Skipton communities, following the fire that has impacted the area," he said. "We know this has been and is still a difficult time, and we extend our support to everyone affected." Powercor said it was making "significant progress in restoring power to affected communities. "Powercor crews are conducting repairs on the power network damaged by the Cobden, Streatham/Skipton and Natimuk fires, with more than 57 poles already replaced and at least another 172 needing to be replaced," it said in a statement. Corrangmaite mayor Kate Makin said the community cannot be forgotten in the state wide fires. Picture by Kate Healy "While the Harcourt area largely remains unsafe to access, yesterday crews worked closely with CFA teams to access the town and conduct some repairs. We will continue working closely with emergency authorities and will begin repairs as soon as it's safe. "About 2100 customers are off supply following Friday's severe weather and fires. These outages are caused by fire damage to poles, lines and other electrical assets. FFV and CFA crews from all around the state attended the blazes. Picture by Kate Healy Multimillion-dollar aid package announced The aid announced includes: $10 million which will be distributed to farmers to assist with livestock and crop losses, $1.5 million to help coordinate emergency accommodation options, $1 million allocated for trauma support, $5 million to fund support workers in a Recovery Support Program and $2 million to establish a recovery hotline. Premier Jacinta Allan said she was proud of the way Victorians had banded together in during the crisis. "People heeded the warnings and acted to protect themselves and their loved ones at great cost," she said. "We're standing with them on what will be a long path of recovery. "From emergency accommodation to mental health help or fodder for livestock, we're ensuring no one is left behind in this recovery effort." Daily Your morning news Today's top stories curated by our news team. Weekdays The lunch break Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. 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