Firefighting
Family lucky to escape fire
AUTHORITIES say a Colac family is lucky to be alive after a kitchen fire filled their house with smoke.
Workers quell mill fire
QUICK-THINKING timber factory workers prevented a machinery engine fire from spreading throughout a Colac mill.
Wet weather takes heat out of burns
FIREFIGHTERS have burnt off more than 6500 hectares of the Otways this financial year.
Warning follows burnoffs
FIRE authorities have warned landowners to monitor their burnoffs after crews had to control private burnoffs in the Colac district.
Koalas die in Wye River burnoff
THE death of koalas in a State Government burnoff near Wye River have angered wildlife activists.
Illegal fires keep Colac brigades busy
FIRE restrictions will remain in force in Colac and district for at least another week, despite people lighting burnoffs without permits.
Ballarat district brigade takes honours
A BALLARAT district fire brigade claimed senior A Grade honours at volunteer firefighting championships in Colac.