Forest Fire Management Victoria says it has met targets for burning off potential bushfire fuel in the Grampians despite delays from bad weather.
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The agency’s latest report detailed the amount of fuel reduction in the Grampians and across Victoria.
The agency spent almost $17.8 million on planned burns in the Grampians region, including just over $9m on fuel reduction and management.
More than $8.7m was spent on non-fuel-management activities such as fire and emergency response, recovery, prevention and preparedness activities.
The Grampians had the second-lowest overall budget compared with other regions, with the FFMV spending the most, at more than $48.4m, in Gippsland.
FFMV hoped to reduce the residual fire risk in south west Victoria, from Ballarat to the South Australian border and from Portland to St Arnaud.
With ongoing fuel reduction, FFMV plans to have the south west’s residential risk down to its lowest level in more than 30 years by 2020.
FFMV chief fire officer Stephanie Rotarangi stated in the report that Victoria was one of the most fire-prone areas in the world.
“The 2016-17 planned burning season saw poor weather conditions that prevented planned burning on many occasions,” she said.
“Despite this, residual risk was estimated at 63 per cent, which met the Victorian Government's policy of maintaining residual risk at or below 70 per cent.”
FFMV consulted with the Western Border Stakeholder Reference Group and Aboriginal groups.