Deputy incident controller Dave Jensen addresses a community briefing on Wednesday (14 January) at Corryong Memorial Hall in relation to the Walwa bushfire. Photo: Livestream.
Upper Murray communities have been told “the threat is not over” and emergency teams warn it could take 10 days to restore power to homes and outlying properties as a large bushfire continues to burn west of Walwa.
A community briefing at Corryong Memorial Hall on Wednesay (14 January) asked residents to be patient as teams worked behind the scenes to ensure essential services are safely restored as soon as possible.
“You have not been forgotten about,” emergency management staff said at the meeting, which was also livestreamed via the Towong Shire Council Facebook page.
“We are currently in the immediate relief phase, steps are in place to get to early recovery but there is still an active incident. Don’t worry, the cavalry is coming …”
Residents were told roads remained closed (except to emergency access) with police manning traffic management points. Major closures include the Murray River Road and Murray Valley Highway while the Jingellic Bridge Road is open.
During the 11 am briefing, deputy incident controller Dave Jensen confirmed a lightning strike was responsible for the fire that broke out on the Murray River Road, near Walwa on 5 January, which quickly spread into the Mount Lawson State Park.
He said while initial backburning efforts kept the fire contained to 300 hectares, the ruggedness of the terrain and “big blow-up” of catastrophic weather conditions on Thursday saw the fire breach containment lines, resulting in an upscale of emergency warnings and actions.
And he made no apology for the escalation in emergency warnings and evacuation advice, which resulted in the closure of the Corryong relief centre and Corryong hospital.
“We had to do this for the community’s safety,” Mr Jensen told the meeting.
He said the blaze, which has burnt more than 105,000 hectares, was “still active … and the threat has not passed”.
“There are hot spots in the Tallangatta Valley and approaching Nariel Valley but our aim is to keep it contained north of Dartmouth Dam,” Mr Jensen said.
“This is an active fire that will go on for some time. The only thing that will bring this totally under control is rain.”
Mr Jensen said while the weather forecast for the next few days was “fairly benign” and presented an opportunity to “halt the progress of this as best we can”, the possibility of lightning on Thursday remained a risk factor.
About 300 to 350 firefighters were involved in efforts on the ground, including units from Queensland, the ACT and NSW, he said.
Smoke continues to shroud Border communities around Albury-Wodonga as the remaining 20 evacuees from the emergency relief centre at Wodonga racecourse were due to be bused back to Corryong late on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Jensen said teams were doing a “power of work” behind the scenes – AusNet crews are already on the ground working to restore power – but warned it “could be quite some time before services are up and running”.
Arborists and heavy machinery had begun hazardous tree assessments so that roads could be opened but “realistically it could be between two and three weeks before the Murray Valley Highway is open again”, he said.
Questions from the floor centred around timeframes for the return of power to towns and outlying properties, clarifications on current road closures, and the safety of residents returning to the area.
The meeting heard that from Thursday, there would be three doctors available at Corryong Health and a recovery manager was already in place liaising with agencies to co-ordinate the recovery phase.
However Nariel fire brigade captain Angus Maclean received a round of applause after levelling criticism at both the CFA and forestry services for their failure to conduct burning operations in the Wabba Wilderness area, saying lessons had clearly not been heeded from the catastrophic 2019/2020 fires.
“You haven’t done a bloody thing – you’re a bloody disgrace!” he said.
Let’s stick together – mayor rallies ‘resilient’ residents
Towong Mayor Peter Tolsher has urged Upper Murray communities to “stick together” to safeguard their mental and physical health in the aftermath of this latest large-scale fire in their midst.
He acknowledged the “mental anguish” many people may be suffering, particularly after the devastation of the 2019/2020 bushfires, and urged people to seek help early if they were feeling impacted.
“Don’t let it hang around in the background, because it can affect you downstream,” Cr Tolsher said.
“You also have to look after your physical health, particularly those people who’ve been fighting fires for days.”
Cr Tolsher assured residents there was a lot of work happening to ensure a smooth recovery phase.
“As a community, let’s stick together and know we will get through to the other side well,” he said.
Farmers in fire-affected areas can request emergency fodder by contacting the VFF on 1300 882 833 or visit vff.org.au. If you have urgent animal welfare needs, call the VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226.
Stay up to date on bushfires in your area by checking Hazards Near Me, the RFS website, or by calling the RFS Bush Fire Information Line on 1800 679 737.
For more information on the Victorian fires, visit VicEmergency.
