ASouth East court recently had its regular proceedings altered to account for fires in western Victoria.
The Bordertown Magistrates Court circuit was set to take place last Wednesday but an 11th hour decision by Magistrate Koula Kossiavelos saw the proceedings run remotely through the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court.
“I am making the decision tomorrow to sit here in Mount Gambier and to do them by phone,” Magistrate Kossiavelos said last Tuesday.
“No one is attending Bordertown, we are going to sit here and we are going to contact everyone we can by phone.
“As it is there are four Victorian defendants who will not be able to come and I do not want to put anyone at risk and with the uncertainty about the way things are.”
Dry lightning caused a number of fires across western Victoria including a blaze which destroyed around 70,000 hectares in the
Little Desert National Park last Monday.
Traffic detours were put in place on Tuesday including the closure of the Dukes Highway between Bordertown and the Victorian border with traffic detouring through Naracoorte.