00:00The Grampians fire is directly to the west of Ararat and our municipality extends on
00:08the whole eastern flank effectively of the Grampians mountain range.
00:13And with the weather conditions that we're facing, particularly today, they're extreme,
00:19there's no other word for it.
00:20We've got a very hot dry day and very, very strong gusting up to gale force winds happening
00:28already from the north and we're anticipating a change around the northwest coming into
00:33the west later on this afternoon.
00:35So that's bringing a pretty extraordinary impact of ember attack across a substantial
00:41area of land across the municipality.
00:44What sort of conversations have you been having with people in the community over the last
00:48couple of days?
00:49How are they feeling?
00:51There's a lot of anxiety, as you can well imagine, Melissa, but it's been about preparedness.
00:56We've had some very good community meetings with information being shared by the fire
01:00authorities and there's no mistake about this.
01:03This is a really, really dangerous time and fire authorities have been very clear, heed
01:07the warnings, enact your fire survival plan and that's the best way that we can avoid
01:12injuries and loss of life.
01:14How does it feel to hear authorities saying things like, you know, these are the worst
01:19conditions since the Black Summer bushfires?
01:23What sort of feelings does that bring up for you and for the people in Ararat?
01:29It really brings it home to a lot of the communities that we have running west of Ararat.
01:34The Moyston community, obviously the Pomona community, suffered devastation in the 13th
01:39of February fires only earlier this year.
01:43Coming down south towards Willora and all the way down towards Glen Thompson and the
01:47Bournes Hill area now, where a take shelter warning was issued earlier this morning, that
01:54means it's too late to leave.
01:56You really must have made your decision before that time comes, if you're actually going
02:01to travel.
02:02So, I think all of the information and the education that's been going out across the
02:07community is incredibly important and people are looking to one another for support.
02:12They know where to go to for the information.
02:14It's great to have all of the warnings come out over ABC, TV and radio.
02:19There are other networks putting out those warnings as well and the Vic Emergency app
02:23is the most crucial tool, I think, that people have in their hand to get those up-to-date
02:28notifications because they change at the drop of a hat.
02:32Absolutely, they do.
02:33And Jo, where can people go in that area if they do need to evacuate?
02:38People who are evacuating, please head to an emergency relief centre.
02:43We have one in Ararat that's been open for a number of days now and will continue to
02:47offer support to the community.
02:49It's at the Alexandra Oval Community Centre at 1 Waratah Ave in Ararat.
02:53All the information about emergency relief centres is available through the notifications
02:59in the Vic Emergency app.
03:01There's also a relief centre to the north of us in Storr and I believe there's one that's
03:06opened up down in Hamilton as well for people towards the south of the Grampians Ranges.
03:12So please don't hesitate to come to an emergency relief centre where there are people who are
03:18very experienced and trained to manage relief and recovery.
03:22Our council staff are absolutely up to the minute with a network of support that's available.
03:26The Salvation Army is on hand.
03:29The Victorian Police are on hand to provide support and comfort for people who are concerned
03:33about having left their property.
03:35We also have Grampians Community Health providing support for people and many other support
03:41services are ready to be connected to people in need as is required.
03:47We know this is obviously not the Christmas that a lot of people were hoping for.
03:51Do you have a message to some of those hard working volunteers and firefighters in the
03:56community who have given up their Christmas?
04:00A huge, huge thank you.
04:02It's been a massive sacrifice that people have made to keep others safe.
04:08It's been absolutely extraordinary.
04:10I live half an hour south east of Ararat.
04:13I'm just bordering the Watch and Act zone myself.
04:17I have family members who are contributing towards the effort.
04:20My fire radio listening set is going all the time.
04:23I can understand absolutely the commitment that people are making.
04:27It's not just our local CFA brigades, but it's also the people who've travelled interstate.
04:31And I thank you from the bottom of our heart that you've made this extraordinary effort.
04:36We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of firefighters who are coming to battle these
04:40really challenging circumstances that we're going to be facing for weeks yet.
04:44This fire is uncontrollable.
04:46It's not contained.
04:47The very best we can do is deal with the spot fires as they break the fire front.
04:54And that's the fact of the matter.
04:55This is really, really dangerous, Melissa.
04:58Jo Armstrong, the Mayor of Ararat in Victoria, thank you so much for your time and stay safe.
05:03All the best.
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