For the first time in 44 days we are now confident that we can call this fire contained.

Current situation.
• Rainfall overnight on Tuesday 25th and the early hours of Wednesday 26th September have eased conditions significantly and fire fighters are seizing the opportunity to attack the remaining hot spots.
• Thermal imaging cameras are being utilised to assist fire fighters to detect any hot spots that may not otherwise by available.
• As hot spots are detected they are mapped and crews, supported by aircraft, are assigned to tackle each spot.
• This process will continue until we are confident that there aren’t any left near our control lines.

So what do we mean when we say the fire is now contained?
A fire status of “Going” is probably pretty clear to most people. It indicates that the fire is spreading on one or more flanks and that effective control strategies are not in place for the entire perimeter.
When we move to “Being controlled”, it indicates that effective strategies are either in operation or planned for the entire perimeter. With a fire as large as the Yankees Gap Rd fire, it can be necessary to stay at this level for an extended period. The perimeter of this fire is almost 190km and much of this is not accessible by vehicle.
Changing the status to “Contained” is a sign of significant progress as it indicates that the whole of the fire is behind identifiable control lines. There may still be some active firefighting and some fire activity inside the perimeter.
The next landmark will be moving to a patrol status. This will indicate that firefighting resources are used to keep an eye on our lines to ensure there are no breaches and that there isn’t any new fire activity. It also indicates that major re-ignition is unlikely. Aircraft may still be involved in this process, especially on a fire of this scale and in this type of terrain.
The final, and much anticipated, step is to declare a fire out. With the Yankees Gap Rd fire covering such a large area and being surrounded by drought-affected fuels, it is unlikely that we will declare this fire out until we have had significant rainfall on the fire ground.