BENALLA, VIC. — “Earlier [yesterday, 18/12/25] a fire caused by harvest operations near Goomalibee, west of Benalla, escalated quickly and triggered an Emergency Warning, showing how fast things can change,” CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said.
The fire has now been downgraded from an Emergency “Watch and Act” Warning to Advice for Broken Creek, Goomalibee and Goorambat.
A large grassfire at Goormalibee is contained but is not yet under control. The fire is no longer spreading.
A State Control Centre spokeswoman told VicNews that 1584ha had burned as of 7pm last night. Ten aircraft are supporting firefighting operations.
Deputy incident controller John Towt said 200 firefighters and 60 tankers on strike teams had responded to the fire. “One house, eight sheds, other buildings and several tractors have already been lost,’ Mr Towt said.
Crews have been able to contain the fire west of Broken Creek.
Firefighters will continue working today to strengthen containment lines and make local roads safe for travel, allowing them to be reopened. (Road closure details below.)
A Community Meeting will be held at 5pm today at the Baddaginnie Fire Station, 62 Palmerston St, Baddaginnie.
- Firefighters, aircraft and machinery will remain in the area to continue work to contain and strengthen containment lines;
- Smoke may still be visible from nearby communities and roads;
- Local road closures are currently still in place while crews work to make local roads safe to travel. These are at the:
- intersection of Goomalibee Rd and Tarnook Rd;
- intersection of Tarnook Rd and Webb Rd;
- intersection of Kelleher Rd and Webb Rd;
- intersection of Carroll Rd and Burness Rd;
- intersection of Terret Rd and Goomalibee.
