Some good news this morning, with both fires in the Little Desert now contained.

Incident Controller Eddie Lacko said there was no longer any active fire burning within containment lines. The fire was declared contained at 10:20am Wednesday 18th November.

Over the last few days crews and aircraft have worked hard in extremely windy conditions, to control the fires. There have been 2 fires within the park.

Started by Lightning on Sunday afternoon, the Desert Discovery Walk fire has burnt 2587ha, and the Pump Jack Track Fire has burnt 1949ha. Both fires presented a challenge to crews and aircraft due to the extreme weather conditions over the past few days.

Incident Controller Eddie Lacko said that ground crews worked throughout Sunday and Monday night and currently are supported by aircraft and heavy machines as they continue to work on the containment of the fire.

“A south westerly change on Monday night increased fire activity during the day on Tuesday, which has increased fire activity on the North Western edge.

“Even though we have had a lot of spring rain, it just shows that you can never be complacent and that the bush is drying out quickly and the fire season is already here.

“The hard work of Forest Fire Management, Parks Victoria and CFA crews over this time was outstanding and their effort has resulted in the containment of the fire. The work isn’t’ over yet, as we move into the recovery phase, and crews prepare for what else the rest of the fire season may have in store.”

Due to the current restrictions in place, a traditional face to face community meeting was unable to be held and instead a Community Meeting Webinar on Zoom was held on Tuesday night.

Mr Lacko said that residents within the advice area still need to monitor any messages about the fire and that increased wind speed, a change in wind direction and smoke or poor visibility can indicate the situation could be changing.