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  • 2 years ago
It's been a tense day for fire-affected communities in the Victoria’s west with hot weather and strong winds putting residents and emergency workers on edge. After warnings of catastrophic conditions one emergency fire warning has been issued near Dereel, south of Ballarat.

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00:00 This is why crews have spent the day on high alert.
00:06 Flare-ups like this one outside Beaufort could easily get away from firefighters.
00:11 Late this afternoon, as the strong winds arrived, so did reinforcements to keep the blaze contained.
00:20 Scott Green and his father Len have been working to protect their home.
00:24 Just set up a heap of hoses, sprinklers, hoping for the best.
00:28 Comes this way, turn them on and run.
00:31 There's not much else I can do.
00:34 They're just sitting late.
00:37 Their good spirits belie the stress that's been building since the fire first started
00:42 six days ago.
00:43 The idea is to put them on the house and right around the shed.
00:48 How are you feeling this time around?
00:50 Very good.
00:51 Len's brother's home went up in flames.
00:58 At nearby Mount Cole last week.
01:00 But he's lost everything.
01:02 He's had Parkins disease.
01:03 He's 82 years of age.
01:06 In the main street of Beaufort, shops were closed and the streets were almost empty,
01:11 as most people heeded warnings to leave.
01:15 Rosemary Torney was among them, packing up her pets and heading to Ballarat.
01:19 Last night there was a tree down and I could be ready to go and just two trees fall down
01:24 and I'm stuck.
01:25 So I decided it's safest things to get out.
01:26 Shay Trengove has been doing what she can to help, including supplying donated food
01:32 to the fireys.
01:33 We're all just trying to band together and help each other out however we can really
01:37 and everyone is just willing to help any way they can.
01:43 Crews have been on high alert, patrolling this massive, more than 20,000 hectare fire
01:49 ground, just keeping an eye out for any re-ignitions, particularly with this wind picking up.
01:55 And that wind will keep emergency services on watch into the night.
01:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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