Clonbinane Rural Fire Brigade - APRIL 2024              www.cfa.vic.gov.au

End To Fire Danger Period on 15^th April, 2024

The Fire Danger Period for Mitchell Shire Council will cease at 1am on Monday 15^th April, 2024. Although this date does now allow for burns to take place there is also some things you need to consider before you light up.

• Check and monitor weather conditions – particularly wind
• Always register your burn on 1800 668 511 or online at firepermits.vic.gov.au
• Let your neighbours know when you plan to burn as there will likely be smoke in the air
• Leave a 3 metre fire break (free of flammable materials) around your burn
• Never leave a burn unattended
• Have sufficient equipment & water available to stop your burn from spreading
• If your burn does get out of control, call ‘000’ immediately

Forest Fire Management Victoria - Planned Burns

We recently saw Forest Fire Management Victoria conduct a fuel reduction burn at Wandong (Dry Creek Rd) this was one of many planned burns for 2023/2024. Other burns within in the Mitchell Shire include.

• Reedy Creek  (Tonsil Rd)  -  4 Km SE of Reedy Creek
• Tallarook (Magazine Tk) - 10 Km SE of  Tallarook township
• Clonbinane (Two tees Rd) - approx 6.5Km east   of Clonbinane
• Tallarook (Freemans Link Rd) - 9 Km SE of Tallarook township
• Flowerdale (McMahons Rd) - 8km W of Flowerdale

These burns will only be conducted if the weather conditions permit.

For the latest information about upcoming planned burns please check the Planned Burns Victoria website: 

https://plannedburns.ffm.vic.gov.au/search-results/

Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal

Following our efforts on Friday 29^th March, 2024 along with our virtual tin we managed to raise a whopping $3914 for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal. For a small community with no township, we have done an incredible job. Thank you to the members that assisted on the day and to those that gave generously to  a wonderful cause.

ANZAC Day  -  Clonbinane CFA will again be a part of the ANZAC Service at Wandong on 25^th April, 2024

Clonbinane CFA and Southern Cross Gold (SXG) working together to better protect our local community.

At the start of the 2023/2024 fire season, members of the Clonbinane brigade management team met Lisa Gibbons (General Manager), Geoff Pollock (Operations Manager) and Jonna Maclean (Land Manager) of the Southern Cross Gold (SXG) team to thank them for a recent donation towards the purchase of some new equipment for our vehicles. 

Some of the items purchased through this donation included a new Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) for Clonbinane Tanker 2 and new blackout hoses. This new equipment will assist our members when we are blacking out (making a fire safe after it has been controlled, by extinguishing or removing burning material along or near the fireline). The TIC will assist members with identifying hotspots in fires and the new hoses are smaller/lighter and will help reduce fatigue to members when carrying/moving around a fireground. Other items donated to the brigade include helmet torches, to assist members when light conditions are fading.   Although, we haven’t had much use for these items this fire season we have been training with the equipment and feel fortunate knowing that we have this equipment on hand if needed in the future.   Thank you to Southern Cross Gold for ongoing support towards our brigade in assisting us to better protect our community.

Stay Safe,  Tom Snaith – Clonbinane Captain