By Taylah Eastwell
Thirteen people have been charged with deliberately lighting fires in the Yarra Ranges throughout the 2020 Fire Danger Period.
Since the fire season commenced on 16 December last year, a total of 26 fires across the Yarra Ranges have been attended to by Mount Evelyn CFA and Mount Evelyn Police Fire Patrol. Three of these were in Mount Evelyn.
Leading Senior Constable Peter Hamilton of Mount Evelyn Police and Fire Patrol Unit said community awareness around fire danger has picked up.
“We went to a few fire meetings and had in excess of 40 at each meeting,” he said.
“The illegal burning off was right down. If we compare it to the same last season we would have been out to close to 100 reported fires, a lot of them being illegal burn offs. To date we are at 26.
According to Mr Hamilton, the smoke haze from East Gippsland that blanketed the Ranges could have played a part in the “quiet” fire season.
“It could’ve been because of the smoke that was around and the fires in the headlines,” he said.
“When you wake up and see smoke in the area you don’t really want to be lighting fires.
With the Fire Danger Period set to come to an end on March 10, Mr Hamilton warned that there is always a zero tolerance to fires in the Yarra Ranges.
“There’s still a week left of the fire season. Just because its cooler doesn’t mean you can burn off, wait until the fire season has ended,” he said.
