ARARAT Fire Brigade has posted a video of Country Fire Authority vehicles attempting to outflank a grass fire at Saw Pit Flat Road north of Ararat on Saturday evening.
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The fire was brought under control quickly in what the Country Fire Authority described as a ‘good save’.
CFA, the State Emergency Service and Forest Fire Management Victoria deployed 38 vehicles and three aircraft to fight the blaze that started at 5pm.
The video has proven wildly popular with the brigade’s social media followers, chalking up 37,000 views and more than 130 ‘likes’ in the two days since it was posted.
In the video, shot from the cabin of a CFA tanker, smoke and dust a whipped by the wind to the point where the fire disappears from view at times.
The wind also created small ‘fire twisters’ as the tankers approached the blaze.
Ararat Fire Brigade captain Greg Taylor posted in the comments section of the Facebook video that the efforts to fight the fire would have been even more effective in better visibility.
“Our other tanker is on the west flank of this fire, it’s a pity that we didn't know where each other was on the fire line, we might have been able to achieve a better result if we did,” Mr Taylor posted.
Bendigo Fire Brigade posted a message congratulating Ararat firefighters on their success while another viewer said he like the video but wasn’t sure about the choice of electronic music overlaid on the video.
CFA District 16 operations manager Bernie Fradd said he fire would still be going this week if it had reached hilly bushland areas.
“It was just a really good save,” he said.
“It had the potential to get into the Regional Park and if it had, in any significant way, the fire would still be going and would be very difficult to put out.
The CFA issued a ‘Watch and Act’ message, its second highest alert after ‘Advice’, for the 60-hectare fire burning 2.8 kilometres north of Ararat just after 6.30pm.
People in the Bulgana and Crowlands areas were advised to activate their fire plan and were warned against fleeing their homes and properties as the fire moved in a north-westerly direction.
Mr Fradd said just about every brigade from within 20 kilometres of Ararat responded to the fire.
Residents in the affected area thanked CFA volunteers and emergency services but complained that people had blocked roads and ignored closure signs to get a better look at the fire.
Mr Fradd said is was “really dangerous” for spectators to enter a fire zone.
“It makes it harder for firefighters to concentrate on putting out the fire when there are people in cars using the same roads. It’s certainly not helpful,” he said.