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UPDATE: Whittlesea council’s Australia Day fireworks display sparked a fast-moving grassfire on Monday night.
The crescendo to the day’s celebrations kicked off about 9pm with a round of fireworks.
The first three sparked a small grass fire that quickly spread to measure about one hectare in size.
A spokeswoman from the Country Fire Authority said CFA crews were already on site and quickly extinguished the fire.
“The CFA was there as a precaution in case a fire were to break out,” she said.
“The fire was brought under control within 10 minutes.”
In line with safety procedures, the council promptly cancelled the fireworks display.
South Morang fire brigade captain Lindsay McHugh said six fire trucks were outside the exclusion zone in case an emergency unfolded.
“There were no short cuts in the preparation for last night’s display. The pyrotechnics were issued all the permits which come with stringent requirements,” he said.
“It [fire] probably looked more spectacular than it was, there was no real threat to anyone.”
He estimated there were about 5000 spectators in attendance.
