{"id":898789,"date":"2026-09-20T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898789\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T10:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T10:30:13","slug":"watch-and-act-issued-as-out-of-control-bushfire-burns-in-victorias-central-gippsland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/898789\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch and Act issued as out-of-control bushfire burns in Victoria&#8217;s Central Gippsland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Central Gippsland communities have been told to monitor conditions as firefighters battle an out-of-control bushfire at Seacombe, about 42 kilometres east of Sale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The CFA issued a Watch and Act warning on Sunday afternoon, &#8220;strongly&#8221; recommending residents in Golden Beach, Paradise Beach and Seacombe prepare to leave after a fire broke out on the Longford-Loch Sport Road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">By 6:30pm the CFA said the threat had reduced but advised people not to travel into the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">It told residents of the communities, and Dutson Downs, to &#8220;monitor conditions&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Residents of Loch Sport are also being warned not to travel south along Longford-Loch Sport Road.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A firefighter stands amid a haze of smoke as the sun shines through.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4b4ecd4ff624b2fb89c2ac0054bd68f7.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">A CFA firefighter near an out-of-control bushfire at Seacombe. (Supplied: Candice Dockett)<\/p>\n<p>Fire cause unknown<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">A CFA spokesperson said crews responded to reports of smoke about 1:20pm on the Longford-Loch Sport Road in Seacombe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The fire, located south-west of the coastal town of Loch Sport, is burning in a south-easterly direction towards Paradise Beach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">By 6pm Sunday, 27 CFA vehicles were on scene fighting the blaze, while air attack support had also been requested.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A column of smoke rises from the horizon of a green paddock.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/9de8040efe324aa844228610c09d3b21.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Firefighters were called out to a blaze on the Longford-Loch Sport Road on Sunday afternoon. (Supplied: CFA)<\/p>\n<p>Longford-Loch Sport Road closed\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Authorities say they have closed the Longford-Loch Sport Road at the Seacombe turn-off so that people cannot enter the area, but they are still free to leave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">They are encouraging people to monitor the situation, including increases to wind speed or a change in wind direction, and to note that smoke or poor visibility can mean the situation is worsening.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Smoke rises from the horizon in the distance over a forest of trees.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/aedd4d93f4b2ac76599e674ad9f047f7.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">A column of smoke rises on the horizon after the fire broke out. (Supplied: Gerard Walsh)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">A CFA spokesperson earlier advised people in the affected communities to leave as soon as they were ready, &#8220;as roads will become busy&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Those affected can travel to Yarram or Sale, or friends or family away from the fire,&#8221; they said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">People are still being encouraged to leave the area if the situation changes or they feel unsafe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The CFA warns people have died trying to leave at the last minute and advises those who leave to take pets, medications, mobile phone and chargers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The CFA said further updates would be provided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Central Gippsland communities have been told to monitor conditions as firefighters battle an out-of-control bushfire at Seacombe, about&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,43182,7770,467433,128,31904,222351],"class_list":["post-898789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bushfire","tag-fire","tag-prepare-to-leave","tag-science","tag-smoke","tag-watch-and-act"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}