Of major concern is the lack of warning for the district’s residents who were only alerted by luck and the keen eyes of one person who happened to be awake on the night the fire broke out.

Sgt Steve Harding, officer in charge of Clare Police, said that police had the role, in an emergency, of becoming the forward commanders for major incidents, liaising with emergency services and the police operations manager.

“If the fire had not been contained then we would have taken steps to call on more personnel,” Sgt Harding said.

Police and the CFS incident controllers work together on response management and decide on the resources required.

“My advice to residents is to leave early - no house is worth staying back for,” Sgt Harding said.

“But it’s up to every individual to make their own choices.”

Sgt Harding stressed the importance of having a fire emergency plan in place.

Alerting residents to bushfire threats, especially at night, will be a matter to be considered for the future, and it may be possible for Neighbourhood Watch to get involved in an appropriate plan, according to Senior Constable Mark Hill from Clare Police.

Clare and Gilbert Valleys council chief executive officer Roy Blight said the council could not recommend a safe place for evacuees to gather, as this could change with each incident.

“I think it would be very hard to say anywhere in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys area would be a safe area,” he said.

“I can’t think of anywhere which would be safe. It depends on the recommendations on the day from the CFS incident controller.”

Mr Blight said people who lived in a high fire risk area needed to have a contingency plan for emergencies. “In a situation where there was a need for a town hall or recreation hall to be made available, the council would obviously do this.”

Mr Blight said the council had held discussions with local police in the aftermath of the Victoria bushfires in February about the degree of readiness locally in terms of emergency management procedures. In the event of a local fire residents should tune in to a local radio station such as the ABC (band 639) using a battery operated radio to keep themselves updated on bushfire warning messages.