Sorry for the delay - I was given this briefing at 10.00am, but when I arrived home from Sandy Creek, I showed two of the Parks firefighters where we would need a back burn against the wildfire coming down from Wallers Road. We were looking around the area where this will be done when Hanneke discovered that fires which had burned themselves out last night had re-ignited. She got a back-pack and started to deal with this while I worked with the Parks guys to work out the approach to the back burn - hopefully scheduled for this evening.
When they left I joined Hanneke in dealing with the newly resurrected fires. However, received a phone call to say that when the Parks guys were driving out they discovered that a fire which had escaped across a fire break into a block that had deliberately not been burned for about 20 years - and was extinguished last night - had re-ignited and was burning furiously.
I left them to deal with that and call in reinforcements, and spent two hours working with Hanneke to get the re-ignited fires under control (which we did eventually), though then another fire from last night which had been crawling along a higher ridge became much more active and moved down to where we were working. Leaving Hanneke to monitor the situation I made my way to the other outbreak, in the unburned area - which by this time had become quite a large fire, with several fire units in attendance. I started helping out with that where I could, and suddenly it was 4.00pm So here's the rather old news, though still (I hope) relevant.
Sandy Creek - Seventeen Mile Road Area
The firecrews did a bac kburn along Seventeen Mile Road past Henk Hagendoorn's place, then further on down past the Goldmine Road intersection.
It is planned to continue the back burn tonight (after 1800h) down the southern eastern side of Seventeen Mile Road to past the quarry where it will meet up with a back burn from a containment line that drops down to Garrard Lane.
East and Southeast of Vinegar Hill (the hill, not the locality) and Outlook Crescent / Forestry Road area
Fire crews will work throughout the day on strengthening the containment line that starts in the Bracefield property (off Forestry Road / Pine Road) and goes north and northwest then northeast to meet with Redbank Creek Road. The first half of this road was used as a containment line for the back burn last night that burned west to meet the back burn from the Claridge property and the Blackboy Ridge orchard. (The Claridge property was also used as the containment line for a back burn toward the west to meet the wildfire coming down from Wallers Road.
The bulldozed track from Wallers Road to Beech Road is secure today after last night's back burn.
Fire crews are hoping to get to the Jennings and Brain properties this afternoon to discuss a back burn tonight.
Ravensbourne - Ergon-Long property - Whipbird Drive area
A lot happened on the Ravensbourne fire fronts yesterday. The 'cavalry' arrived: police, fire crews, massive earth moving equipment, bulldozers, helicopters. Rural fire crews advised us that they would be aiming at containing the fire to stop it progressing up the hill to the Pascoe and Johnson/Neilson properties.
A containment line was graded the entire distance of Wackerling road, from Wallers Rd just near the Ravenbsourne National Park through to Seventeen Mile Rd. The backburning done by Private Forestry Management along the northern boundary of the Ergon block 1 was linked to the Eastern boundary of Ken Pascoe's, continued up to the northern side of Whipbird Drive until Wackerling and then across it to the north to the National Park. A rough indication of the back burning line is indicated in red, although this is not an official document, just my observations.
As a result all fire fronts have been back burned and risk of uncontrollable wildfire has been significantly reduced in this area for now.
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