THE Bushfire Royal Commission Interim report has confirmed what residents say they knew all along; Loch Sport is a bushfire time bomb.
As part of the report, Loch Sport has been earmarked as one of 52 Victorian towns to have an enhanced bushfire protection plan implemented.
Loch Sport Residents' Group spokesman Tom Ponting said the town being labelled as one of the state's bushfire hotspots came as no surprise to residents.
He said the group had been campaigning for substantial fire breaks to be constructed at the east and west ends of the town since the beginning of the year, but were still waiting for action.
"Basically between all of us, we've started to get things happening,'' he said.
"We had our petition tabled in parliament in March, and we've kept pushing things with the council.''
Mr Ponting said the construction of substantial fire breaks was not the only issue the group wanted addressed.
He said another major problem was the power lines leading in to the town.
"They're very overgrown,'' he said.
"If they were burnt, Loch Sport would have no real power or water supply in a fire.
"That issue hasn't really been addressed by the council or DSE yet.''
Mr Ponting said the 20 metre fire break between Lake Victoria and Lake Reeve was not enough to protect residents from bushfire threat.
"It would do absolutely nothing.
"A real fire would jump it easily.''
He said the Loch Sport Golf course had also been named as a fire break by DSE.
"But it's only on one side of the road, the other side is bush and the golf course is full of native trees, which can just explode,'' he said.
"I just don't know if it's good enough.
"We're only 10 weeks away from next fire season, so there's not a lot of time left for things to start getting done.''
Mr Ponting said residents wanted to see action with substantial fire breaks, fire hazards in the town cleaned up and the power supply made fire proof.
"And we want to know who is accountable in times of fire, who can the people in Loch Sport go to?
"There seems to be no responsibility, where's the communication?
"They've been talking about taking action since the beginning of the year, but there's been none.
"When will we be made safe?''
CFA Region 10 operations manager Greg Flynn said the CFA would be engaging with the community of Loch Sport in the coming weeks.
"It gives us an opportunity to improve the community's understanding of what to do and enhance the safety levels for the community and for the emergency services workers there as well,'' he said.
Mr Flynn said the CFA would be working in partnership with DSE and Wellington Shire Council.
DSE Fire Management Officer Graeme Taylor said DSE had been consulting with Parks Victoria, the CFA and Wellington Shire Council to plan an asset protection burn south of the Loch Sport township between the main Loch Sport Road and Lake Reeve.
"This is a 133 hectare burn that will tie in with the burn completed last autumn north of the Loch Sport Road near the golf course,'' he said.
"These burns will create a significant fuel-reduced corridor both north and south of the main Loch Sport Road, to the west of the township.
"The burn is planned to be conducted within the next two or three weeks before fuels get too dry, weather permitting.
"There will also be a six-person firefighting crew based in Loch Sport this season as there was last year.''
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