Streatham fire recovery

Eighteen homes were among 59 structures burnt in a fire at Streatham in the southern part of Ararat municipality.

Firefighters managed to contain the grass fire, which started on Friday, on Monday after it burnt 20,000 hectares of land from Streatham towards Skipton.

Authorities deemed it safe for residents to return to their homes yesterday, while remaining alert to hazards.

Powercor was on scene assessing and repairing critical infrastructure, with crews working to replace more than 110 poles and rebuilding parts of the network. The extensive rebuild work will take days.

Incident controller Chris Eagle, based at the Ararat control centre, said a recovery centre was located in Skipton.

“The two main priorities are reopening roads by clearing hazardous trees and repairing fallen power lines, and also getting residents back to their properties to start their cleanup,” he said.

“ Ag Vic is assessing livestock and crop losses.”

Another focus following the Streatham fire is assisting in recovery efforts, particularly those who were hardest hit.

Country Fire Authority Streatham brigade’s third lieutenant Bruce McKenna left his home on Friday to man the tanker, not imagining he would return home three days later to total devastation.

With his home gutted by the fire, the Westmere CFA group has rallied to fundraise for Mr McKenna, setting up a GoFundMe page.

Wyperfeld

Two bushfires in the Wyperfeld National Park are yet to be brought under control threatening communities at Boinka, Underbool, Patchewollock and Hopetoun since Thursday night.

The first of the fires, south of Boinka, broke out on Friday afternoon, while the other is a result of lightning strikes from a weather system created by the Boinka fire.

The Boinka fire is more than 55,000 hectares, largely contained to the park, while the eastern fire is about 3500 hectares.

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