Human Remains Found Amid Australia Bushfires, Police Say

Sydney: Human remains have been found in southeastern Australia, where days of bushfires have leveled buildings, knocked out power to thousands of homes and burned swaths of forest, police said Sunday.

Out-of-control fires during the summer heatwave have destroyed more than 350,000 hectares (860,000 acres) of bushland in Victoria state since midweek, destroying more than 300 structures including homes and leaving thousands without power.

Officials said the fires were the worst to hit the southeast since the 2019-2020 Black Summer fires, which destroyed an area the size of Türkiye and killed 33 people.

Victoria police said in a statement that human remains were found in a vehicle near the town of Longwood, about 110 km (70 miles) north of the state capital Melbourne, and said the victim had not yet been identified.

This fire, one of the largest on Sunday, has already destroyed properties, vineyards and farmland.

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said there were more than 30 fires in the state. The state’s Rural Fire Service said many fires were burning at the highest danger level in neighboring New South Wales, which includes Sydney, near the Victorian border.

Victoria Bushfire Management chief Chris Hardman said it would likely take weeks for firefighters to gain the upper hand against the blazes.

“These fires will not be brought under control until it gets hot, dry and windy again,” Hardman told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television. he said.

Allan shared that a total fire ban is in place for Victoria as thousands of firefighters and more than 70 aircraft battle fires at X.

“Bushfire smoke is affecting air quality in many parts of Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the federal government would offer emergency funding to bushfire-affected residents as well as farmers with “the extraordinary cost of undertaking urgent and emergency animal feed distribution.”

“It is estimated that thousands of cattle may have been affected,” Albanese said in his televised speech. he said.