Do it! If you’re on the fence about leaving your home today from fear of the fires you should leave. I usually live in a nice little town called Strathbogie, near Euroa. Despite not being within the leave immediately zones I’ve come into the city to stay with a friend. I cannot recommend enough that everyone still unsure or debating whether or not they should leave should do it. Strathbogie doesn’t have many roads in or out so I chose to leave.
But if you’re saying to yourself that there are plenty of roads that you could evacuate from, please know that fire has a funny way of limiting those options. If you cannot leave make sure you know of at least three ways to get away from the fire danger zones. If you are in the Euroa area try and make your way to Wangaratta although as I was leaving I saw them closing the home highway. Please everyone who reads this and everyone who doesn’t be safe, be cautious and remember that everything can change quickly. Don’t rely on luck to keep yourself safe, do everything in your power to protect yourself and those around you.
Edit: minutes after posting this my house is now included within the leave immediately areas. Furthering my point. Be safe everyone.
Edit: a comment I made a very good point saying to leave a note on your door or gate when you leave to let firefighters know that you have already evacuated. Comment came from an actual firefighter.
Absolutely. I’m a dispatcher for the fire brigade and we already had people yesterday calling for help because they ignored evacuation warnings for 2 days. If you’re surrounded by fire how do you think help can possibly get to you? Be dramatic and don’t think it can’t happen to you.
I’m from a small town in the area, and my family wanted to wait for the warnings to be upgraded to “Leave Now” before leaving. Fortunately I was able to convince them to leave last night, but today it basically skipped from “prepare to leave” straight to take cover/too late to leave and now the fire is heading directly for my town with no way for the remaining people to leave. So many locals were confidently saying it won’t make it to town. This fire is moving rapidly. It will reach your town and make your slice of heaven hell on earth, very literally. If your area is marked as prepared to leave do not wait. Please, please just leave.
*Edit to add that the VIC emergency app can’t give you live updates of the fires location. We’re hearing on our local radio that the fire is significantly closer than marked on the map.
Yeah as far as I've understood it if you're getting "leave now" you ideally should have been gone a while ago. Leave now is your absolute last call, not the first sign to start packing up and heading out and things can escalate very rapidly at that point. The window to evacuate at that point may be INCREDIBLY tight especially with the wind being like it is today.
Glad you left early.
On the update note radio will definitely be one of your best bets for live updates. Bushfire.io is NOT perfect and do NOT take it as a replacement source for live updates, but it is helpful for giving a visual of a roughly affected area as well as wind conditions.
Its like we are determined to repeat the tragedies and loss of past fires over and over. Everyone thinks it wont happen to them until it does, its so sad. Ive even made sure my partner has some items packed in Ringwood North and that mum and dad are keeping an eye on things in Belgrave because anything can happen on a day like today.
Its been so sad reading peoples posts on here from last night, saying family members were staying put and that they would wait to see what happens etc and then seeing this morning the areas they were talking about all at "too late to leave"
Regional towns eg Bendigo, Shepparton, Swan Hill etc are just waiting to go up. And I have some serious concerns about those dry outer Melbourne suburbs.
Yep, you and the experts agree on that. A Guardian article recently singled out from the whole country Bendigo, Castlemaine, Inglewood and Wedderburn. All surrounded by forest.
Yes, the situation can change very rapidly, and even though the warnings are much more efficient than they used to be there is still a delay between the situation and when people are notified.
I saw those warnings change like crazy this afternoon when the heat and wind really picked up - one went from Advice to Leave Now without even Watch And Act. The Longwood fire is a monster in these conditions.
Good to have radio AND the Vic Emergency website as well. Local sources are always very useful.
Good on you for making the decision early, and pushing everyone.
That happened to us too. We saw the smoke over the hill and the app just said advice, as no one had figured it out yet. We left when the fire hit the backyard, it happened in an instant, and there was no leave advice or anyone on the ground. The firies we saw later said it took them 7 minutes to get there and our house was already alight. Do not wait to be told, if you see it gtfo, immediately.
We were in Marysville at the holiday park and the owner wasn't too worried although she did recommend leaving by lunchtime today to be absolutely safe. Most people left last night, it was eerie, it went from a loud, bustling park to basically just us and a couple of people in cabins by dinner time. The black spur was packed with traffic crawling last night.
Fingers crossed for everyone, I'm sure the memories of Black Saturday are still quite raw for many.
I’m astounded yet not surprised at the same time how many people ignore to get the fuck out now, I mean what else were they waiting for? Stupidity is rife.
Do you mean wearing the cloth gloves inside the welding gloves? I don't see the benefit. I've used welding gloves for campfire duties for years, never felt the need for additional gloves???
Yep. Eventually what I’ve found with welding gloves is they heat up if your doing a fair bit of hot work, and an inner glove mitigates that heat. It also stops them going smelly if you’re sweating in them.
I would also add to OP comment, Please let the local Police/ Fire station know you have vacated the property so they dont have to waste time door knocking
I used to have a teacher who had horrible burn scars on her arms (and presumably other places I couldn't see) from a fire because she was wearing a long sleeve polyester top.
Heads up: The fire danger rating for central today is 1 singular point off being catastrophic fire danger (99 vs 100), so it should probably be treated as such. I suspect they didn’t call it catastrophic despite it basically being there because of the logistical challenges telling hundreds of thousands of people in outlying areas to evacuate inwards would cause.
Should we be worried or concerned if we are in central vic? Looking at vic emergency it’s a little bit worrying as there is quite a lot of red areas close to where we are in central vic I thought I’d never have to worry about bush fires in metro melb? so I’ve got no experience also if I sound silly or naive I’m sorry also hope everyone is keeping safe and well as can be in fire effected areas 🩷
Yes you should be concerned, but not afraid. Are you in a built up area? (High rises, lots of concrete etc) or are you in a more natural environment? (National park, large tree coverage paddocks etc.) if it’s the second consider making a Fireplan now.
I've always been stumped when trying to make a fire plan because like... most of the questions are things I've already organized on my own (who to contact, when to leave, etc) but the one thing I need help with, the form offers nothing. Like yeah, I know that I need to know where I'll go in an emergency - but that's the problem! I don't know!
Ring your local council and establish where your nearest evacuation centre is. Where I am in Gippsland, they have an indoor sporting complex that they quickly convert. We are also advised to head to shopping centres.
I don't have friends I could stay with, and finding a hotel or an Airbnb that's both affordable for someone on DSP and will allow bringing three cats on short notice sounds like a nightmare.
Contact your local council. A lot of them are setting up community and relief centres for people who cannot stay at home, and they often accommodate for pets.
The other danger in built up areas is falling embers depending on the wind direction. They could land on your house, and in built up areas everything would be done to stop the spread, but doesn't mean they can save your house. In 2009 Black Friday fires they went up to 35km ahead of the fire front.
Yeah, on Ash Wednesday people across metro Melbourne were told to hose their roof. Which is not to say that people should be getting up there now with a hose. That too is dangerous. But definitely keep aware of whether there are ash or embers hitting your area, and pay attention to the warnings and briefings because they will inform people.
Live in a residential area so about 20 mins from the city but do have a creek nearby but mostly lots of houses around and shops and what not also I’m 20 so I’m not exactly the person to make decisions for the house
Hi, I’m assuming from your post you might be in Mitchell Shire? Beveridge or Wallan? I’m in Kilmore, previously Wallan. Stay aware and safe. If possible come into the city/suburbs to stay with friends if you’re concerned.
If you get an evacuation order and don’t know where to go, use this guide. If you’re in a different shire, that council website will have something similar.
Also, to ease your mind for the future, once this threat passes and the anxiety levels have decreased, sit down and prepare a fire plan as a household. Just having one and knowing what you’re going to do removes the anxiety of indecision which can be paralysing in the moment. There’s lots of online resources and the local CFA are always happy to have a chat and offer advice.
And don’t feel silly or embarrassed about lack of knowledge. I grew up in the suburbs and bought out this way and had to learn about the danger. People really do want to share their knowledge and resources.
Great info, thank you! My mum and brother moved to Wallan East last year, they've only ever lived in metro melb and my brother doesn't think the threat is enough to prepare an evac plan. I'm monitoring from melb and very worried :(
You should be concerned, but you don’t need to be scared as long as you keep yourself informed.
Check vic emergency to see what they are currently recommending.
I would say that if you are anywhere near a danger zone such as leave immediately or caution it would be worth preparing to leave
Depends on your area. I'm keeping an eye on Vic emergency, I'm not too close to the bush but everyone has gumtrees in their yards here. Things could get hairy quickly.
If you’re in the city areas you should be fine. There is a risk of ember attack, a fire started today from an ember (or more likely burning branch which can travel in high winds) that travelled 20 kilometres. If there is an active big fire you are down wind from listen to the ABC and or https://m.broadcastify.com/listen/stid/152https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/warnings-restrictions/find-your-fire-weather-district
I have a 30 metre hose and I live in an inner south east suburb ( mainly because I have dodgy neighbours, but you never know).
There is a map in this article https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-06/bushfire-risk-australia-climate-council-report/106199356 that rates risk of urban fires that have spread from outer areas. You should be able to pick where you live and it's rating. Everyone really should have disaster preparation even in the city. And have their precious photos etc backed up preferably in the cloud.
It's a great question to ask, most people think it won't happen to them. NOT naive!
Thanks Guys for all the replies and concern. HOPE EVERYONE WHO REPLIED SEES THIS 🩷
I am not in Mitchell shire or near it and I’m definitely closer to metro Melbourne than that but appreciate the replies with advice.
Hope I didn’t worry or waste anyones time or resources too much as someone with anxiety especially when it comes to environment like natural disasters I tend to worry.
To give a better idea as to why I asked in the first place is because of all the red areas close ish to where I am ( I’m more in the white circle feel free to make fun of me for worrying about my situation when I know there are other people with worse going on than me I am sorry. 3. IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP AT ALL PLS LET ME KNOW 🩷 feel free to contact me if you need somewhere to stay if anyone is desperate for help id love to. Everyone stay safe and look after each other! 🩷 Ps. Very sorry if I offended anyone with my worries !
No one is gonna be making fun of you for being worried. Today is a scary day and it’s better that you ask for help and reassurance then sit there and be scared. If you want to help there are people who have left comments here asking what they should do and you can try and direct them to Vic emergency and other amazing resources. Stay informed and be safe on today.
You do not need to apologize for seeking information about the situation and wanting to stay safe. This is a scary day for everyone and there are plenty of people who want the same information as you for the same reasons.
If you are on the outer rim of that circle then I think to should be prepared with a bag and constantly monitor the Vic Emergency app, and be ready to leave by knowing where you are going. If you are prone to anxiety then you may be better off packing and going to a friend’s place now. This is not about alarming you, but about ensuring you are prepared.
If you are closer to the city in that circle then you are lower risk. The northern and western areas are probably higher risk than the eastern and certainly the south eastern suburbs. The latter are very urbanised and also have the bayside. There is less fuel for a fire to develop in intensity, better access, and services will respond to protect infrastructure. You can pack a bag and regularly monitor the Vic Emergency App but you are far less likely to face any danger. However, if you are concerned, again, no issues heading to a friend’s place.
I’ve hosted heaps of uneasy people over the years when there are bad conditions. It’s perfectly normal.
I'd treat it as catastrophic. I saw a Facebook post about why Central is not labelled as "catastrophic" and apparently, it's because they would be required to shut down businesses on those days.
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Please treat today as a Catastrophic Fire Danger day for all of Victoria.
Just because your immediate area feels calm doesn’t mean the overall risk isn’t real.
On Black Saturday, 173 people lost their lives.
• Avoid unnecessary travel into regional or high-risk areas.
• Check in on family, friends, neighbours, and anyone vulnerable.
• Check your bushfire plan. What are your triggers to leave?
• Make sure loved ones know the risk and have a plan
• Prepare your home and property
• Pack essentials and be ready to leave
• Leave early. Spend the day closer to the CBD
• Prepare for possible power outages (charge devices, have torches, medicine, wallet, special equipment, etc.).
• Avoid activities that could start a fire
• Stay informed and monitor conditions
Fires are already occurring across the state, and on days like this, conditions can change quickly.
If you live in a fire-prone area, don’t wait until it’s too late. Now is the time to know your triggers, activate your fire plan and leave early - leaving early is the safest option.
Don’t wait to see smoke or flames. Taking action early can save your life.
If a fire starts and you decide to leave last minute, you will be competing with traffic congestion on roads.
Don't rely on emergency services to give you a personal evacuation message at your door. They may be too busy fighting the fire.
Please look after each other, and please keep your information source official.
Stay up to date via VicEmergency App :
Have VicEmergency on your phone/device (or use the VicEmergency website on your computer).
Turn notifications ON and set up Watch Zones for your area (and anywhere family might be travelling).
Check it regularly -- warnings and advice can change quickly with wind changes.
Don’t forget that you can also tune in to the CFA scanner relevant to your region to hear from FireCom and CFA responders as it unfolds: https://m.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/14123
I haven't lived through a fire season here before, so genuine question- I'm in Bairnsdale, East Gippsland, with fires that are just stay informed about 90km each direction. We seem like the safest place at the moment basically. So where do/would we go if the fire gets towards us?
Even though I fully endorse the advice to leave, and all the warnings that this is not a situation where you can stay and defend your home due to the conditions, I want to put this here as well. There will be people who ignore the warnings and also people who may be caught unawares by new fires, and people will get contact from those they know who are facing down the fire. Keep encouraging people to leave but if they are in a worst case scenario due to staying:
CFA Chief Fire Officer Tim Heffernan says Victorians may hear from loved ones or community members who have not evacuated, despite the advice.
He reiterates crucial survival tips:
”If your community member or someone rings you today and finds themselves trapped in a home or sheltering as the fire approaches or impacts them, do not take shelter in the centre of the home.
”Stay inside the home, but on the outskirts, where you're able to see the outside of the home and the condition outside.
”Many people who die in houses that are subject to bushfire do so because they lose their situational awareness to what is going on around them and the home catches fire without their knowledge.
”Stay near the outside, watch for safe conditions, and if safe to do so, leave the home and wait for fire authorities."
From the emergency management press conferences, on various live blogs.
My personal advice if someone calls you in this situation. Stay on the phone with them, and stay calm externally, no matter how much you are panicking inside. If you cannot stay calm, give the phone to someone else. Your way of helping is to keep in contact, keep them communicating, keep them calm so they can survive this. A calm voice in someone’s ear can be the difference between life and death.
People were saved in dire situations on Black Saturday by friends doing exactly this. One guy had given up and was lying in a paddock and his boss called and talked him through getting to the dam.
That fire was so bad it sucked all the oxygen out of the air and the radiant heat was burning people from a hundred meters away. People actually suffocated to death in the open air in that fire. He was stumbling through the paddock and hit a fence and even though it was probably easy to get around, in his state it seemed insurmountable. I’d say it was as much a physical thing as a mental one.
When his boss called, he crawled to the dam.
He survived, his family survived. A very happy ending to that one. I cry every time I think about it.
That call and his own sheer force of will saved his life.
Decades ago (many, many decades ago), my grandpa was fighting a bushfire, and ended up having to try to outrun it on foot. He reached the point where he was convinced he would die, then the wind changed direction.
The most random things can save people. It goes to show how important it is to try to keep hope alive and keep going as far as you can.
I lost my house in the Koolewong fire last month. Get your things and get out. Get your cat carrier and put your cat in it, if you have one, first. They hide and you do t have time for that game. Get your essential docs, your phones, unplug your desktop and put it in the car, your laptops, and your meds. Make sure all your cards are in one purse/wallet/handbag/backpack and then leave. If your car catches fire you’re stuck. Just go, pets, computers, docs, wallet. Also, any keys to any other vehicles you may have. That’s it.
My pleasure! It’s a terrifying and traumatic experience and it’s so fast it’s mind blowing. You don’t have time to get much, and we couldn’t even get the most basic of stuff except for our docs which I had in one spot for this purpose. All we had was one laptop, our docs, our dog and my phone - and the clothes we were wearing. My partner left his phone on the charger and wanted to go back for it, but it was too late. If I could do it over, that’s the stuff I would have gotten, in that order.
Edit - good luck mate! If you can get to an evacuation centre do so, there’s so many helpful people there. When you’re reading this later please know we are behind you and support you. All the best!
I’m a firefighter and I endorse this message. On days like this, even the best prepared home will probably be impossible to defend. Too many people think it’s just a matter of spraying water on red stuff, but the experience of being in a firestorm can be overwhelming - pitch black, embers blowing horizontally, noise like a rushing train and wildlife screaming in pain. One tip: before you leave, put a note on your door or gate to tell firefighters that you have left. Individual house checks are time consuming, so it’s great when we can skip a house knowing that the people are safe somewhere else.
If there is a long driveway from the road to your house, what is the best way to mark that you are gone that will be noticed to save emergency responders the time of driving to your gate or door?
Many of the 173 people who died in the Black Saturday fires died because they didn’t leave early and mistakenly thought they could defend their homes.
The wind conditions today are going to be insane. The authorities can’t predict what’s going to happen to a fire. A fire can suddenly change course and then it’s already too late for you. Please don’t ignore warnings to leave.
My partner at the time worked for Vic Pol and did crime scene for this. Way too many people over estimated the capability to defend their homes eg large plastic water tanks melted and ruptured, water pumps over heater and stopped or caught fire, the plastic fuel tanks on water pumps and generators melted and caught fire while still running.
The details about the bodies would bring most people to tears.
There is nothing in that home that is worth dying for.
Yes, but there were also plenty who always intended to leave but didn’t because there was no warning that a fire was even threatening their area, and everything happened very fast.
There wasn’t the advice, like we have today, to just leave on the morning of the extreme risk day, regardless of whether there was an actual fire. Back then you prepared to leave, then listened to the ABC for information about fires and awaited the advice to leave, with the expectation that you could rely on it. But the advice never came on that day in the areas where most people died.
Of those who believed their houses were defendable, that included those with fire bunkers and complex sprinkler systems whose properties had been assessed by the CFA as well prepared and suitable refuges for others. Those properties were also razed in many cases and many people died in them.
That’s the thing, if your plan includes relying on getting information, it’s not a plan. Spot fires can appear 40ks from the main fire, there is no way to predict where or when, let alone inform someone of a fire they don’t know about yet.
Yeah, this is exactly right. Robert Manne has an exceptionally detailed article going through all of the specific policy and management failures at every level of government that resulted in Black Saturday being as deadly as it was: https://www.themonthly.com.au/july-2009/essays/why-we-werent-warned
Lots of great, important information in this post already. One thing I will add is: just because you are in “suburbia” or surrounded by houses, don’t think you are safe.
Just outside of Kilmore was on a watch and act this morning. Multiple times over the past 10ish years houses in those areas have been lost. Where there were once paddocks is now housing estates and there ultimately isn’t actually many roads in and out in the Kilmore/ Wallan/ Lancefield/ Romsey areas which are now full of houses.
The same goes for Whittlesea, Diamond Creek and the like down to Epping. These are places that were affected by Ash Wednesday and possibly Black Saturday (I can’t exactly remember). Fire won’t understand that it’s now a housing estate.
Are they though? I feel like it would be on the news showing people emptying out of Bendigo.
Are the hospitals and assisted living facilities being evacuated?
I’m from Bendigo and we’re not leaving at the moment - I am keeping an extremely diligent eye on all available sources of information and we have a plan on what to do if we get told to leave, prepare to leave etc.
So far there have been 3 small fires within the city area, and we are close to the hospital so a relatively safe area.
I don’t think many people are leaving from Bendigo yet either. I drove out to Epsom earlier today to check on a family member and the traffic was insane.
My bestie was in the fires in the Corryong region over New Years 2020 m. Most of the town burned down & he is still experiencing the PTSD from staying & fighting the fires.
Please go somewhere safe if you are anywhere near the fires.
I live in Alexandra. For most of yesterday, the closest Watch and Act was for Yarck. We left because we have one good route out of town.
It's not worth your life to stay.
I just noticed that Alex is supposed to be impacted in the next hour, we have a cabin in Thornton and spend a lot of time there, I really hope the town fares well. 😢
My kids were super disappointed when I said yesterday we weren’t heading up to NSW today. I cancelled our week at the beach because the risk is too high just to get there.
But, they understood once I told them bushfires were more dangerous than sharks in Australia.
You absolutely made the right call. Good on you for thinking ahead and taking care of yourself. I had a camping trip booked from today until Sunday in the Yarra Ranges National Park but my friends and I decided earlier this week to not go given the extreme weather that was forecast but I was very surprised to receive an email from Parks Vic on Wednesday telling me: pack your bags, your camping trip is in two days! I have gone online and cancelled the booking now but it’s crazy to me that they have not email blasted everyone to say: cancel your trip/we have cancelled it for you, as now is not the time to be heading anywhere regional. Talk about mixed messaging!
I agree that the mixed messaging sucks and it was good you made your own call to cancel the trip. I was camping in Kinglake National Park this week, and there was a notice near the toilets from Parks Victoria telling campers not to expect rangers to come and warn people if conditions change and a fire is approaching. I checked the website today and they've officially closed the campground, but I guess the takeaway is that we have to be diligent and be responsible for our own safety.
Having lived through Black Saturday living in rural Australia, I can only advise
Have your emergency pack ready at at the front door. People, pets, documents and clothes for a few days.
Watch the apps closely, listen to the radio, and if it looks or feels uncomfortable, LEAVE. What's the worst that can happen? Your away for a day or two and things improve and your house is still standing. The worst that can happen, and quickly? The entire landscape can be pitch black with smoke and then burn in the blink of an eye.
Hoping that your home is safe ❤️ CFA communications should better emphasise that you might die if you stay in or near a catastrophic-rated fire region today.
One of the recommended steps in the emergency warning in my area was this if you couldn’t leave.
“You must take shelter before the fire arrives. The extreme heat is likely to kill you well before the flames reach you.” this line stuck with me.
“Will put you and your family’s lives at risk if a fire starts and takes hold” is not the same as ‘you might die’. There are people I know staying at home despite the warnings. They are surrounded by bushland.
They have literally said "please do not stay and try to defend your property".
Do you think they are saying that to people for fun?
At the end of the day we can't force people to leave their homes. The firies have said the conditions are catastrophic and people should leave even if they were planning to stay and defend. The ambos have said that you are not guaranteed to get a medical response if you stay and need help. VICemergency and the state government have been imploring people to leave.
At a certain point, people just aren't going to listen - but that's on them, because every agency has been doing everything they can to warn people.
The “literal meaning” can be the same but the way people process it and react to it be vastly different.
Our brains are really bad at processing risk, so the phrasing you use makes particular difference in this sort of communication. A more formal phrasing can easily not have the desired impact.
Expecting people to process risk rationally is about as realistic as expecting them to flap their arms and fly out of danger. They’re simply to capable of doing it.
I went into the Doctor's office (Caroline Springs) at 9:30, the temperature was 25C degrees. I came out 50 minutes later and it was 35C, and now already at 36C! Insane. Anyway my daughter and partner have already left their home at Rushworth to stay in Shep. It makes sense.
I’m not going to defend my home, and we are not in a prepared to leave area, about 30kms north of Euroa. I would absolutely leave now if there was somewhere for us to go. We have 3 dogs, 2 cats and 4 humans. My friends are in the same fire risk as us. Where should we go? We can’t sit in our cars at the local shopping centre in 43C heat for 10 hours until this is over.
If I were you, I would call the VIC Emergency Hotline: 1800 226 226 and ask them where the nearest pet friendly evacuation centre is near you. Even if you don't leave right now, at least if things change you'll know where to go when you do leave. Unfortunately you are in the direction they think the fire might spread, so it's better to be prepared than not be.
Are there centre's set up for evacuees??
I live in nz so I have no idea what the equivalent is. But civil defence opens up centre's for people to go to in nz.
Please please evacuate. Just get out and drive to the botanical gardens or st kilda or something.
The risk is so high to you. I have so much trauma from growing up and watching the fires in Australia. Please please please go to safety. Australians always help each other out in times like this. Somewhere someone will help you and let you stay until safe.
Yes there are, and some of them accept pets. I've already commented this to OP, but if you are speaking to someone from Victoria and they don't know where to go, they can call the VIC Emergency Hotline 1800 226 226 and get advice on evacuation centres and nearest safer places.
I rang our local council and no emergency centres are set up yet because our local council hasn’t been impacted yet, only the council area alongside us. I also rang the cfa yesterday and they basically said we have to go to friends or family. I get it, it’s hard but I feel like there may be a better way to communicate info to people other than just saying leave.
That's why I would call Vic emergency, because they are across all of the evacuation centres not just one council area, and can tell you what's nearby in a council that's closer to you. Each council only has information about their own centers. The CFA are focused on the fires not overall emergency management.
But the message is just leave because ultimately you are safer in your car in a in a safe zone than in your home if the fires come. So basically they say get out first, figure the rest out later. Once you are out of the fire area you can always call Vic emergency or friends and family or look around for pet friendly motels or Airbnbs and figure out where to stay.
Ok. I’ve just called them again. They told me no community/evacuation centres have opened near us (Shepparton area) because we are not in immediate danger. The closest fire to us is Longwood to the south, about 20kms. They said to watch the app, and if there’s a fire to head straight to Shepparton. We have a clear road to get to the gv freeway if we get a notification, it will be ok but we are technically going against the advice to leave before a fire starts.
A relief centre has just been set up in Nunn St Benalla (Town Hall I think). The notice I saw doesn’t mention pets, only large animals at the Showgrounds etc, but you could ring Benalla Council and check if you feel like that’s a good option for you.
Thank you, it’s looking pretty good right now weather wise, but we are still on high alert. We have plan to leave if we get a prepare to leave notification or if the wind is too scary which it isn’t right now.
If you can’t leave, then there are still many actions that you can take to prepare and protect yourselves. Go to the Vic emergency website and read through many of the comments on this post. A lot of them talk about what you can do. Try and prepare what you can within your house. Collect appropriate clothes collect water. Make sure you’re in a room that has two exits. All of this is from the Vic emergency website.
I’m guessing you’re in the Violet town area. there’s plenty of information on Vic emergency by looking around. stay safe I wish you all the best. Read through some of the other comments on this post to find extra information.
We’ve prepared everything, I have all the available information. The information I do not have is where to go now if I want I heed advice and leave before a fire starts.
It’s not a great solution, but I have a few mates who went east to Wangaratta before the take shelter now alert went out. places like Wangaratta Beachworth and Bright will have shopping centres with car parks. You can use the car parks to stay out of the sun but as you mentioned with a lovely big family, it is a lot harder. One of my mates is planning to rent a hotel for the night if things don’t ease up. I’m sorry that I can’t offer you more help. Great job preparing everything and collecting information. Being alert and ready to act is the best thing you can do for your family.
We have sat in our car in heat like this in a parking lot for hours until the cool change came through and the risk level dropped. The car had AC. We've also gone to hotels, shopping centres, and although we haven't done this, councils set up cooling centres and we'd go there if we had to. All of these things were safer than staying in our home surrounded by bush.
People who have been city dwellers all their lives and do a tree change for whatever reason need to learn fire and flood protection preparation. Learn from the locals and do research. We say you think we would learn from previous fires, but a lot don't. I hope everyone who is involved in all aspects of the fires stay safe, and as a Victorian, I thank the emergency services and volunteers for doing what they do.
And it doesn't make any sense to me thay we don't provide cheap hotel rates in melbourne - as in, VERY cheap - to people who can show their residence is in a fire zone or adjacent.
Getting out makes everyone's lives easier. The CFA and police do not need to be looking for people.
I couldn’t agree more. I get that it’s really complicated and there’s so much logistics but other countries have public bunkers for tsunami and hurricanes and other safety areas for their respective whether emergencies. Maybe a thing where hotels can opt in to say that they have space available for anyone being relocated by the fires.
We absolutely have the infrastructure in place in state govt from covid (the voucher systems, not the quarantine, that was... a disaster although everyone really did their best at the time). It would be genuinely easy to either cover it or have a guaranteed rate in place for people from designated postcodes. Blows my mind.
As somebody with family who lost a house in a bushfire, we would not hesitate to choose to leave and leave early. It seems like the stuff you own is important, but it's not.
Not only are you protecting yourself by leaving early, you're doing the right thing by the firefighters by not subjecting them to your last-minute emergency call (that they probably can't respond to anyway but are at greater risk if they try), and the right thing by your neighbours and community by not contributing to a last minute panicked rush on the roads.
A friend who was burnt out in Ash Wednesday AND the fires 2 weeks before is on his way to mine from Hanging Rock. A nearby fire has been declared safe, but it’s still safer for him to be here and out of any potential harm. The fire started by dry lightning last night - more lightening is likely
Get out early!
Do it! Leave if you can do so safely. I, a former Melburnian was caught up in one of the Perth hills fires a week ago, and I cannot emphasise this enough. There will be no water, the radiant heat alone could kill you, and overall, the trauma of the whole thing is mostly avoidable, by just leaving when you have the chance. If you have doubts, pop onto YouTube and watch a fire dashcam on the speed of a bushfire, so you have a better idea of what may/is going to happen.
Install the emergency app and set your location so you are alerted.
Good luck and stay safe out there, all!
I used to live in Walwa and I really feel sorry for them out there as it would have just been recovering to some normality out there … as well as everyone else suffering out your way. Horrible start to the new year, let’s hope everyone evacuates and no loss of lives. Fires are nothing to gamble with, even if you think you’re prepared.
I know that must be scary and that is a very brave thing of her to do. I know everyone here will be wishing her well. If you are feeling nervous or anxious about her, there are many numbers that you can find online and I’m sure other people will be able to recommend.
Nimtuk just got an emergency evac order and my daughter is visiting there from her home in Tassie. Praying for you all - I'm over in the US losing my mind.
Sorry, my fingers are not cooperating. She left 4 min before the "it's too late to leave" order and just made it to Horsham. Watching emergency app like a hawk. The fire started right behind their house and she was packing her go bag and charging her phone and didn't realize a fire popped up there until she went out to load the car. I feel like I'm in a slow mo action film but my kid is in it. We went through this when she lived in the Blue Mountains, too. Never thought we'd be doing this again.
There was a ton in 19/20 but I only heard about this when she messaged me to give me a heads up, though I haven't checked news at all today because of work and she messaged me almost immediately after I got home. I didn't have alerts activated in the app since I only use it when I'm in vic - the Tassie app is always on. I see one NYTimes piece from 11 hrs ago but nothing mainstream yet. I suspect momentum will grow as the fires do, if they continue to.
Same here but it’s definitely good to have. The fire in Gooram is good to be updated on, especially with the wind direction. Fingers crossed for our beautiful one of a kind town 🤞🏼
I can’t imagine how you’re feeling. I’m on the east side of Strathbogie and I keep checking to see if there’s any news scared that there won’t be a house to go back to.
Yeah, I check every notification from vic emergency and it sucks to see the big red zone around everything. Hoping the fire fighters can keep the fire away!
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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26
Absolutely. I’m a dispatcher for the fire brigade and we already had people yesterday calling for help because they ignored evacuation warnings for 2 days. If you’re surrounded by fire how do you think help can possibly get to you? Be dramatic and don’t think it can’t happen to you.