31-01-2025
Indigenous rock art threatened by Grampians bushfires in Victoria's west
Fire crews are racing to protect Victoria's richest concentration of Indigenous rock art, as they tackle a series of out-of-control blazes ahead of an expected heatwave.
Bushfires continue to burn out of control at the Grampians national park in Victoria's west, after about 10,000 lightning strikes hit the ground in the state following hot conditions on Monday.
Firefighters were working to contain the blazes and prevent impacts on the national park that is home to about 200 Indigenous rock art sites, a State Control Centre spokesperson, Reegan Key, said on Friday.
The park contains 'the richest concentration of rock art in Victoria', which was among 500 Indigenous cultural sites in the area, she said.
'With three major fires now in the Grampians national park in the last month, we want to recognise the anxiety and impact these fires are having on the community themselves, but also the traditional owners of this country,' she said.
Watch and act warnings were issued on Friday for residents of Wartool, Zumsteins, Brimpaen, Mooralla, Woohlpooer, Big Cord, Strachans, Victoria Valley, Glenisla, Hynes, the eastern side of Rocklands and the Little Desert national park.
People along other parts of the park's western flank were told to monitor conditions.
A fire continues to burn at the Little Desert national park, northwest of the Grampians blaze, after claiming one home near the town of Dimboola, a second home further west and an event centre.
Country Fire Authority volunteers were backburning between the towns of Dunkeld and Cavendish to create fire breaks in the southern Grampians, amid fears the blazes at either end of the national park could meet.
Aircraft, bulldozers and ground crews were removing vegetation to create control lines to prevent fires from progressing, while spraying down areas that are difficult to reach.
Private land along the Victoria Range, in the western flank of the Grampians, remains at real risk after the fire burned more than 10,000ha.
On Thursday, Key said benign weather conditions on Friday and Saturday would offer firefighters an opportunity to get in and around the fires before an escalation in heat from Sunday.
'The next few days, hopefully we will have firefighters in the area working to support those communities and lessen the impacts,' she said.
'The focus will be very strongly on trying to minimise the potential impacts of those warmer days coming over the weekend and into next week.'
While the forecast for Victoria from Sunday onwards points to the mercury surpassing 40C, she said there would be an absence of strong winds.
'The fire does love heat and dry conditions, but it is when we see some significant winds you do see those fires take runs,' she said.
