Whitfield becomes bushfire staging area

CFA firefighters have spent their second night fighting bushfires surrounding the upper King Valley,

The fires began with a dry lightning event late Friday afternoon, eight hours after the Great Victorian Bike ride left Whitfield.

Fires in the Black Range at Edi Upper, Hardy's Lane and the right arm of the King River above Cheshunt were attended by local brigades.

By Saturday morning, the Hardy's Lane fire had been controlled but another, more serious fire had broken out above Pizzini's vineyard. Inaccessability to the Black Range and the West King River fires allowed them to grow in size requiring a staging area to be established at Whitfield.

Throughout the day, strike teams from as far away as Shepparton and the border area arrived and were deployed at these three fires.

Local guides have been placed with each strike team and a road block has been set up at Whitfield to control traffic in the fire ground area.

Late Saturday night, a fire at Upper Rose river was added to the portfolio.