Here’s Ararat Mayor Jo Armstrong with more on the situation on the ground in the Grampians, where bushfires have been threatening the region. The fires have caused significant damage and prompted evacuations, with authorities closely monitoring the situation as high-risk conditions continue.
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00:00The Grampians fire is directly to the west of Ararat and our municipality extends on
00:08the whole eastern flank effectively of the Grampians mountain range.
00:13And with the weather conditions that we're facing, particularly today, they're extreme,
00:19there's no other word for it.
00:20We've got a very hot dry day and very, very strong gusting up to gale force winds happening
00:28already from the north and we're anticipating a change around the northwest coming into
00:33the west later on this afternoon.
00:35So that's bringing a pretty extraordinary impact of ember attack across a substantial
00:41area of land across the municipality.
00:44What sort of conversations have you been having with people in the community over the last
00:48couple of days?
00:49How are they feeling?
00:51There's a lot of anxiety, as you can well imagine, Melissa, but it's been about preparedness.
00:56We've had some very good community meetings with information being shared by the fire
01:00authorities and there's no mistake about this.
01:03This is a really, really dangerous time and fire authorities have been very clear, heed
01:07the warnings, enact your fire survival plan and that's the best way that we can avoid
01:12injuries and loss of life.
01:14How does it feel to hear authorities saying things like, you know, these are the worst
01:19conditions since the Black Summer bushfires?
01:23What sort of feelings does that bring up for you and for the people in Ararat?
01:29It really brings it home to a lot of the communities that we have running west of Ararat.
01:34The Moyston community, obviously the Pomona community, suffered devastation in the 13th
01:39of February fires only earlier this year.
01:43Coming down south towards Willora and all the way down towards Glen Thompson and the
01:47Bournes Hill area now, where a take shelter warning was issued earlier this morning, that
01:54means it's too late to leave.
01:56You really must have made your decision before that time comes, if you're actually going
02:01to travel.
02:02So, I think all of the information and the education that's been going out across the
02:07community is incredibly important and people are looking to one another for support.
02:12They know where to go to for the information.
02:14It's great to have all of the warnings come out over ABC, TV and radio.
02:19There are other networks putting out those warnings as well and the Vic Emergency app
02:23is the most crucial tool, I think, that people have in their hand to get those up-to-date
02:28notifications because they change at the drop of a hat.
02:32Absolutely, they do.
02:33And Jo, where can people go in that area if they do need to evacuate?
02:38People who are evacuating, please head to an emergency relief centre.
02:43We have one in Ararat that's been open for a number of days now and will continue to
02:47offer support to the community.
02:49It's at the Alexandra Oval Community Centre at 1 Waratah Ave in Ararat.
02:53All the information about emergency relief centres is available through the notifications
02:59in the Vic Emergency app.
03:01There's also a relief centre to the north of us in Storr and I believe there's one that's
03:06opened up down in Hamilton as well for people towards the south of the Grampians Ranges.
03:12So please don't hesitate to come to an emergency relief centre where there are people who are
03:18very experienced and trained to manage relief and recovery.
03:22Our council staff are absolutely up to the minute with a network of support that's available.
03:26The Salvation Army is on hand.
03:29The Victorian Police are on hand to provide support and comfort for people who are concerned
03:33about having left their property.
03:35We also have Grampians Community Health providing support for people and many other support
03:41services are ready to be connected to people in need as is required.
03:47We know this is obviously not the Christmas that a lot of people were hoping for.
03:51Do you have a message to some of those hard working volunteers and firefighters in the
03:56community who have given up their Christmas?
04:00A huge, huge thank you.
04:02It's been a massive sacrifice that people have made to keep others safe.
04:08It's been absolutely extraordinary.
04:10I live half an hour south east of Ararat.
04:13I'm just bordering the Watch and Act zone myself.
04:17I have family members who are contributing towards the effort.
04:20My fire radio listening set is going all the time.
04:23I can understand absolutely the commitment that people are making.
04:27It's not just our local CFA brigades, but it's also the people who've travelled interstate.
04:31And I thank you from the bottom of our heart that you've made this extraordinary effort.
04:36We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of firefighters who are coming to battle these
04:40really challenging circumstances that we're going to be facing for weeks yet.
04:44This fire is uncontrollable.
04:46It's not contained.
04:47The very best we can do is deal with the spot fires as they break the fire front.
04:54And that's the fact of the matter.
04:55This is really, really dangerous, Melissa.
04:58Jo Armstrong, the Mayor of Ararat in Victoria, thank you so much for your time and stay safe.
05:03All the best.