Applications for disaster recovery assistance payments are now open to residents affected by massive bushfires that have ravaged western Victoria for the past two weeks.
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00:00The lines opened for workers and sole traders who have lost income because of that giant
00:07fire in the Grampians National Park.
00:09Now, through this federal assistance package, these people are able to access up to 13 weeks
00:15of income support.
00:16And, you know, this has been really welcomed by people in the region, not only because,
00:21you know, these fires have been so intense and they have been burning now for nearly
00:24two weeks, but because these fires have hit at the peak of the tourism season, which is
00:29when many people in this region, you know, make their money for the year.
00:34Businesses say 30% of their annual income is made in January.
00:37It's really the busiest time for the tourism sector.
00:40You know, they've got accommodation, there's hiking, there's a lot of draw cards to the
00:44region and that happens right now.
00:46So this income support has been warmly welcomed.
00:49However, businesses are wondering when they're going to be getting any support.
00:54They're looking to the state government for that.
00:55And the state government has said that they are still investigating what that could look
01:00like.
01:01But businesses in the region are waiting with bated breath to find out more.
01:05And can you tell us what is the latest on the fire itself?
01:07Yes.
01:08Well, this fire is 76,000 hectares, which is, you know, pretty difficult to wrap your
01:13mind around.
01:14It's the size of Singapore and it's burning in a quite remote region of Western Victoria.
01:21It reached fever pitch on Boxing Day when we had really hot, really dry and windy conditions
01:27here in the state.
01:28But a cool change blew in that evening.
01:30And ever since, the fire has become slightly more manageable for firefighters who've been
01:34working tirelessly over the last 24 to 48 hours to contain it.
01:39They've been backburning very ferociously around some of those affected communities.
01:44And they say that they've got about 95% of it under control.
01:48But they are warning people in the region not to relax quite yet.
01:54There's always a chance that conditions could change.
01:56And with very hot conditions expected on Saturday, they're warning residents in the area to prepare
02:02their properties in case yet another fire starts up.