Saturday has been declared a total fire ban day for South West Victoria, the Wimmera and Mallee fire districts.
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Ararat is in the South West district while Stawell is in the Wimmera.
Firefighters asked the public to stay alert with hot and windy weather forecast for the Wimmera and Mallee this weekend.
A total fire ban means no fires can be lit in the open air between 12.01am and 11.59pm on Saturday.
The authority listed the fire danger rating as severe with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting hot and windy weather.
The bureau has tipped temperatures in the low to mid 30s across the Wimmera for Saturday with northerly 20 kilometres per hour winds increasing to 25 to 40 kilometre per hour during the morning then turning northwesterly during the day.
For the Mallee temperatures will reach the mid to high 30s with north to northeasterly winds of 15 to 25 kilometres per hour tending north to northwesterly 25 to 40 kilometres per hour during the day.
Country Fire Authority district 17 operations manager Dale Russell advised people to plan ahead and not light fires from tomorrow.
“A number of farmers are burning grass for agricultural purposes. We would ask them not to light up under permit on Friday with the possibility of it escaping on Saturday,” he said.
“We also have duck hunting season this coming weekend. My advice would be not to light a fire on Friday as no fire can be lit after midnight tomorrow.”
Mr Russell said the slightest spark can cause a fire in the dry climate.
“We need to be mindful in agricultural purposes and recreation to be very careful in what we do – the slightest spark can cause a fire and with the weather forecast it would be uncontrollable,” he said.
While a cool change was forecast for Sunday, Mr Russell advised residents to not light fires because strong winds are still predicted.
Forest Fire Management Victoria District manager Phil Murdoch said an incident management team will be in place over the weekend at the incident control centre in Mildura.
He urged people who are camping at the weekend to be observant.
“We strongly urge the community to consider the value of visiting local forests or parks during periods of high and extreme heat as they can be extremely dangerous under these conditions,” he said.
However, he advised people to plan ahead before heading out and have access to all the information needed.