Blaze: Firefighters have been called to three hay fires in six days, including this one at Coomboona. Photo: Wyuna CFA
The owners of one of Victoria’s largest dairy farms have been left counting the cost of a large haystack fire that started on Tuesday, January 16.
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The fire at Coomboona Farms at Coomboona was one of three hay fires in six days in the region.
Between 1000 and 1400 large square hay bales were destroyed after the 50m by 20m hay shed caught alight at the farm, which has been owned by Coomboona Australian Fresh Milk holdings since 2019.
CFA District 22 commander Rohan Taylor said about 35 firefighters were called to the Coomboona Rd property just before 10pm.
When they arrived, the hayshed was fully engulfed.
Firefighters spent four-and-a-half hours at the property, protecting the surrounding area and ensuring the fire did not spread to another hay shed only about 50m to 80m away.
Mr Taylor said firefighters managed to protect the second hay shed from the fire and the hay in it from smoke taint.
Mr Taylor said after ensuring the fire would not spread, firefighters decided to let the hay bales burn down under the control of the large dairy facility’s property managers.
CFA members are also doing periodic checks on the fire to ensure it is still under control, Mr Taylor said.
The CFA issued a community notice to tell people the fire was still burning and they may see smoke in the area, but that it was safe.
The community notice will remain in place until at least 1pm on Friday, January 19, when it will be reviewed.
Continuing: The haystack fire at Coomboona is expected to burn for several days.
The CFA will investigate the cause of the fire after it is completely extinguished.
The Coomboona fire followed two other hay fires earlier in the week, at Tatura and Wyuna.
Mr Taylor said firefighters were called to a Crawford Rd property in Tatura about 11pm on Saturday, January 13.
They found the 30m by 20m hay shed fully alight when they arrived.
Mr Taylor said firefighters spent about 45 minutes bringing the fire under control and ensuring it did not spread.
The hay was then left to burn down under the watchful eye of the owner.
It was not known how many hay bales were in the shed.
Mr Taylor said it was “likely” the fire started from spontaneous combustion.
Firefighters also attended a hay blaze at a property in Wilson Rd, Wyuna, about 12.30am on Sunday, January 14.
Alight: A hay fire at Wyuna burnt about 1200 bales. Photo: Wyuna CFA
A Wyuna CFA member said about 550 large square bales of straw, about 350 rolls of cereal hay and about 300 rolls of pasture hay were burnt.
The hay was in rows in a paddock and not in a shed in this instance.
Firefighters worked with the property owner to create a fire break around the hay, and the fire was deemed safe at about 2.20am.
One CFA unit remained on scene to monitor the fire.
The Wyuna CFA member said the fire started from spontaneous combustion.
Mr Taylor urged farmers to check the temperature of haystacks regularly.
He said the recent rain and the increased humidity in recent weeks could increase the risk of haystack fires.
“Keep watch and monitor stacks,” he said.
“If you do see temperatures rise, adjust or move your stack.”
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