A COUPLE of hundred lightning strikes from a band of storms yesterday afternoon caused spot fires right across the Border region.
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Firefighters moved quickly to get on top of small fires at Tallangatta, Bright and on the Hume Freeway between Benalla and Violet Town.
And a grassfire on the outskirts of Rand burnt 190 hectares before being controlled last night.
Conditions were made even more treacherous by temperatures in the low 30s and high winds, with gusts in most areas of at least 60km/h to 70km/h.
Country Fire Authority duty officer Mark Owens said the main fires in region 24 were at Georges Creek, north of Tallangatta, and one just north of Bright.
Each had the potential to turn into major blazes, but quick work by CFA and Department of Environment and Primary Industries firefighters stopped the fires’ spread.
In the end, the areas burned ranged in size from just 50 to 150 square metres.
Mr Owens said water- bombing aircraft at Albury and Ovens supported the crews’ quick work.
As a follow-up, the CFA went ahead with what it called an “air detection flight” late yesterday to check areas hit hardest by lightning to look for other fires.
“The lightning started north of Albury around Culcairn and the band extended all the way down towards Mount Buller,” Mr Owens said.
“It went across most of the upper North East.”
Small grassfires were also reported at Howlong, at Tunnel Road, Woomargama, and near Corowa, where hay bales caught fire on a farm.
Mr Owens said the lightning band moved through the area quite quickly.
“It ramped up around 1.30pm for 1½ hours and caused a bit of grief,” he said.
“But good work by the crews have brought both fires under control.”
Mr Owens said wind gusts had caused a lot of havoc for crews.
“It’s been shocking,” he said.
“Any fire that’s started has moved very quickly and obviously it’s been quite dangerous.”
Mr Owens said it had been fortunate that more fires had not started, given the treacherous conditions.
“We’re very lucky,” he said.
Mr Owens said another flight might go up today.
The Tallangatta and Bright fires came from triple-0 phone calls.
Mr Owens said it highlighted how important it was to phone in fires as soon as smoke appeared.