OVER 100 lightning strikes sparked fires in the Wimmera overnight, prompting authorities to warn residents to stay of alert during Monday and Tuesday.
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Severe thunderstorms swept into the region about 4pm and continued into the night.
On Tuesday afternoon, eight CFA tankers were called to a paddock off the Henty Highway at Cherrypool, where a small fire was burning in a southwesterly direction.
As of 1pm Tuesday it was yet to be controlled. Brimpaen and Cherrypool residents were urged to keep abreast of the situation in case conditions changed.
Stay across today's fires here: UPDATES: Crews work to control Kadnook forest fire
It followed Forest Fire Management Victoria putting out advice for Connewirricoo, Edenhope, Harrow, Kadnook and Wombelano residents, as a small bushfire in the Yallakar State Forest burned out of control.
A state control centre spokeswoman said four vehicles were fighting the grass and scrub fire, which started during Monday night's severe thunderstorms.
On Monday night, CFA crews from Horsham controlled a fire in the Grampians National Park east of Glenisla and another two southwest of Pomonal, all started by lightning.
Country Fire Authority District 17 commander Alfred Mason said the district had sent personnel to Gippsland in Victoria's east, where eight bushfires are burning at an emergency level.
"They are there on a seven-day deployment and will be involved in management and the planning process (for fighting the fires)," he said. "Another team of Grampians and District 17 members will leave on Monday January 6."
The fire danger rating in the Wimmera today is High.
The mercury peaked at 43.5 degrees in Horsham at 2.37pm on Monday, before a cool change saw temperatures plummet by more than 20 degrees and a milimetres of rain fall on the city in 12 minutes.
In Stawell, gusts of wind reached 70 kilometres an hour.
Regional duty officer Gavin Kelly said in the 24 hours to midday on Tuesday, Wimmera State Emergency Service volunteers have received 30 call outs.
"They were predominantly tree down incidents and traffic hazards," he said. "A roof came off a shed in Stawell on a residents' property."
District 16 duty officer Ian Morley said Country Fire Authority crews and Forest Fire Management personnel were called out to six incidents in the Grampians and Pyrenees region across Monday and Monday night.
"We had the flare up of the Lexton fire, which was the most notable fire of the day and it burnt another ten hectares of un-burned ground in the area of the original burn," he said.
"That had the ability to threaten the township and we had approximately 20 tankers and Forest Fire Management resources on for most of the afternoon and evening."
Another lightning strike ignited a fire in the Mafeking area.
"It turned out to be within the bounds of the National Park, just within the Mount William area," Mr Morley said.
AUTHORITIES warned Wimmera residents to stay aware of several fires across the region on Monday and Tuesday, some of them sparked by lightning during severe thunderstorms.
On Tuesday afternoon, eight CFA tankers were called to a paddock off the Henty Highway at Cherrypool, where a small fire was burning in a southwesterly direction.
As the Mail-Times went to press, it was yet to be controlled. Brimpaen and Cherrypool residents were urged to keep abreast of the situation in case conditions changed.
It followed Forest Fire Management Victoria putting out advice for Connewirricoo, Edenhope, Harrow, Kadnook and Wombelano residents, as a small bushfire in the Yallakar State Forest burned out of control.
A state control centre spokeswoman said four vehicles were fighting the grass and scrub fire, which started during Monday night's severe thunderstorms.
"There is currently no threat to you, but you should plan for what you will do if the situation change," the alert reads.
On Monday night, CFA crews from Horsham controlled a fire in the Grampians National Park east of Glenisla and another two southwest of Pomonal, all started by lightning.
Country Fire Authority District 17 commander Alfred Mason said the district had sent personnel to Gippsland in Victoria's east, where eight bushfires are burning at an emergency level.
"They are there on a seven-day deployment and will be involved in management and the planning process (for fighting the fires)," he said. "Another team of Grampians and District 17 members will leave on Monday January 6."
The fire danger rating in the Wimmera today is High.
The mercury peaked at 43.5 degrees in Horsham at 2.37pm on Monday, before a cool change saw temperatures plummet by more than 20 degrees and a milimetres of rain fall on the city in 12 minutes.
In Stawell, gusts of wind reached 70 kilometres an hour.
Regional duty officer Gavin Kelly said in the 24 hours to midday on Tuesday, Wimmera State Emergency Service volunteers have received 30 call outs.
"They were predominantly tree down incidents and traffic hazards," he said. "A roof came off a shed in Stawell on a residents' property."
District 16 duty officer Ian Morley said Country Fire Authority crews and Forest Fire Management personnel were called out to six incidents in the Grampians and Pyrenees region across Monday and Monday night.
"We had the flare up of the Lexton fire, which was the most notable fire of the day and it burnt another ten hectares of un-burned ground in the area of the original burn," he said. "That had the ability to threaten the township and we had approximately 20 tankers and Forest Fire Management resources on for most of the afternoon and evening."
A Powercor spokesman said storms caused an outage in the Horsham area just after midnight on Monday, which affected 3000 customers. He said power was restored to all customers by 4.50am on Tuesday.
"Strong winds, extreme temperatures and storms caused outages on parts of our network yesterday, with lightning causing more outages into the evening as the cool change swept through the state," he said.
He said customers could keep updated on estimated restoration times, outage information and sign-up for SMS notifications of outages in their area by visiting www.powercor.com.au
"We want to remind people that if they do see a fallen powerline, they should stay well clear of it and report it immediately to us on 13 24 12," he said.
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JessieAnne Gartlan
Eliza Berlage
Eliza Berlage made the move to Horsham to report for the Wimmera Mail-Times in October 2019. Originally from Sydney, she has a sociology background and spent two years working in the press gallery in Canberra.
Eliza Berlage made the move to Horsham to report for the Wimmera Mail-Times in October 2019. Originally from Sydney, she has a sociology background and spent two years working in the press gallery in Canberra.
