LONG-awaited rain over much of east Gippsland, coupled with concentrated fire fighting efforts supported by the Australian Defence Force, has gifted a welcome reprieve to fire fighters tackling the region’s bushfire crisis.
Rainfall totals of between 10mm and 24mm were recorded on Sunday in parts of Wellington Shire and East Gippsland, with another 10mm predicted to fall in parts of the region today.
More rain is forecast later in the week, with 10mm expected in Omeo on Thursday.
While the fire threat has eased for much of Gippsland, by Monday several bushfires in the Buchan Valley area were still not yet under control, and Advice messages were still being issued for fires in the Mallacoota-Genoa, Bellbird Creek-Orbost, Cabbage Tree Creek, and Cann River-Club Terrace areas, as well as for a fire in a remote area 15km north of Dargo.
The heavy rains have given many areas a good soaking, but have also presented problems for emergency workers, with the potential for road conditions to deteriorate and increase the risk of fire damaged trees and other debris falling.
Warnings are being issued for drivers to be wary of changing conditions.
Emergency services are continuing to work in the areas to ensure roads are safe before re-opening to traffic, however as of Monday, the Dargo High Plains Rd and the Upper Dargo Rd remained closed, as did the Timbarra Rd at the intersection of the Buchan Bruthen Rd to traffic travelling north, and the Princes Highway between Orbost and the New South Wales border.
For live updates on road closures, go to traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au/
RAAF Base, East Sale, is continuing to supply bushfire-affected communities in eastern Victoria as part of Operation Bushfire Assist.
More than 6500 full time and reserve personnel and around 3000 reservists have been supporting the operation, and there are Joint Task Forces in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia to enhance Defence support.
The Sale base is the central hub for the Defence response in southern areas, with air support being an integral element of ADF efforts.
Two Australian and two Singaporean CH-47 Chinook helicopters from East Sale are providing support to firefighting operations and humanitarian assistance to remote and isolated communities.
The base also has a medical facility to provide pastoral care to support Joint Task Force operations, with each JTF staffed with mental health professionals to provide mental health support.
Three C-27J Spartans from the base are also supporting Bairnsdale’s P-8A Poseidon aircraft with reconnaissance flights over fire-affected areas.
ADF efforts are being supported by more than 300 international military representatives, including 90 New Zealand Defence Force members, 100 Papua New Guinea Defence Force members, 50 Singapore Air Force members and 70 Japan Self-Defense Forces members.
Engineers from the Republic of Fiji arrived at Puckapunyal at the weekend to prepare for integration with ADF teams on Monday.
Incident management specialists from the United States and Canada arrived at Melbourne Airport on Saturday morning, for deployment to fires in Victoria’s north-east, and east Gippsland.
The ADF’s critical involvement has included engineering teams supporting route clearance tasks near the Victorian and New South Wales border.
At the weekend, on-ground support around east Gippsland included PNG Defence Force engineers and ADF members clearing roads in Omeo, carrying out assessments in Cann River and Wingham River, and technical engineers assisting VicRoads to assess bridges on the Princes Highway and continue route clearances around Buchan.
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle detachment also supported Victoria Police north of Buchan.
The ADF is assisting with the delivery of fodder to areas of need, while support has been provided to Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Parks Victoria to rescue wildlife, including koalas near Buchan.
Across Australia unprecedented fires have so far burnt through more than 10 million hectares of land, killed 28 people and destroyed thousands of homes across Australia.
