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A Total Fire Ban (TFB) has been declared for the North Central, South West and Central regions tomorrow, Thursday 13 February 2025.

Tomorrow’s hot and windy conditions will see temperatures reach mid to high 30s statewide before a gusty cooler south westerly wind change in the early afternoon, likely to hit the Grampians by 2pm and Ballarat by 5pm.

The northerly winds will bring early damaging gusts of 80 to 90km/hr around western and central areas in the morning and early afternoon before possible showers and a severe thunderstorm behind the change across the eastern and central districts.

A Total Fire Ban means no fire can be lit in the open air or allowed to remain alight from 12.01am to 11.59pm on the day of the Total Fire Ban.

CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said the TFB has been declared due to the elevated fire risk that will come with the damaging afternoon winds, high temperatures and underlying dryness.

“Tomorrow’s conditions in the central and south western parts of Victoria will make it difficult for firefighters to supress a fire should one start,” Jason said.

“There is potential for dry lightning to come with the thunderstorms, and although we are anticipating rainfall to follow them, there is still a risk of strikes causing new fire starts.

“While the Grampians (Gariwerd) �Թ���վ Park and Little Desert �Թ���վ Park fires were contained over the weekend, we will continue to monitor containment lines for hot spots tomorrow both on the ground and in the air.

“We’re asking people to follow the strict conditions associated with the TFB declaration, stay well informed with warnings through the VicEmergency app and understand how the increased fire risk will impact you, ensuring your fire plan covers all possible contingencies.”

Victorians can find out if it is a Total Fire Ban on the CFA website , where it is usually published by 5pm the day before a Total Fire Ban.