St Arnaud shed fire causes 8000 hay bales go up in flames

A CFA spokesperson said the shed fire in St Arnaud was under control at around 4pm and declared safe at 6.17pm Sunday evening.

EARLIER:

CFA was notified at 7.12am to reports of a shed fire in the area, with crews finding a shed of about 150m x 50m with around 8000 large square bales well alight, with the fire spreading to a production shed of approximately 50m x 50m.

The large shed fire is on the corner of Charlton-St Arnaud Road and Prestwood Rd, St Arnaud.

It has been advised there is no threat to the community, but residents should continue to stay informed and monitor conditions.

State Duty Officer Peter Lucas said crews were fast to escalate request for assistance following the initial reports.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"Very early on, we asked for 20 tankers and FRV assisted with some specialist equipment on top of that from as far away as Bendigo," SDO Lucas said.

"That's what CFA does, we scale up to get as many resources on the road as quickly as we can."

Commander Ian Morley was on scene and said an advice message has been issued for smoke in the area, with the hay fire expected to burn for several days.

"We're pretty happy with the current situation. We're waiting for an excavator to come and will likely declare it under control around midday," Commander Morley said.

"There was no medical injuries and no persons at risk, and it's been good to have Ambulance Victoria and a CFA rehab unit on scene to help our crews."

The cause remains unknown however it is not being treated as suspicious, with fire investigators expected to attend the scene.

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