2 weeks Ago By Ashleigh McMillan
One home has been razed and another property has been damaged after a bushfire in Melbourne’s east doubled in size and jumped control lines. Montrose residents were urged to take shelter just before 1am as the fire was pushed in a northerly direction and barrelled towards homes near Canterbury Road. On Sunday morning, emergency authorities confirmed the spread of the 33-hectare bushfire had slowed.
The fire is not yet under control but was downgraded from an emergency warning to a watch and act on Sunday morning, with those living nearby asked to monitor conditions as they could change. Country Fire Authority incident controller Bernard Barbetti said a sudden downburst of wind late on Saturday had pushed the fire uphill, causing it to move faster and double in size. “It was unexpected in what it did, it caught people by surprise,” he said.
“It has been incredibly dry up ’til now and this is an area that’s long unburnt. There’s lots of dead trees up there, so it was spotting from tree to tree, from bark on one tree to the next. “Flames were twice the height of the trees at midnight.
” A large front of rain that moved across the fireground on Sunday morning was welcome relief for firefighters, with Barbetti saying the fire was unlikely to cross containment lines again. “There’s going to be a wind change at around midday, but we’re not expecting it to escape because it’s wet on the ground and the fuels are wet,” he said. “Today we’ll be tidying it up - there will be hazards in the area.
We’re asking people for patience. People will be inconvenienced..
. we’ve still got Sheffield Road and Glasgow Road closed, as well as some other roads around the fire. ” A community meeting will be held on Sunday 3pm at the Montrose Hall.
The Montrose fire was aided by hot conditions on Saturday, with temperatures reaching 34 degrees. Melbourne is expected to reach a peak of 24 degrees on Sunday as showers move across the city throughout the morning..
