State swelters under worst conditions since Black Saturday; fire threatens Great Ocean Road; Melbourne tipped to crack 45 degrees

Welcome to our live coverage of Victoria’s latest heatwave and bushfire crisis.

I Isabel McMillanI’ll bring you the latest updates as the state swelters with record-breaking temperatures and firefighters continue to battle fires in the southwest and northeast.

Let’s take a look at how the situation developed this morning:

• A dangerous heatwave is heading towards Victoria today, threatening wildfire conditions as it breaks temperature records.
• A statewide general fire ban is in effect until 11:59 p.m.; This means no fires can be lit or allowed to remain open outdoors.
• Melbourne’s temperature is expected to break 45 degrees, while the state’s north-west is expected to hit a record 49 degrees in the worst heatwave conditions since Black Saturday in 2009.
• Police and State Emergency Service volunteers knocked on the doors of more than 1,000 homes yesterday in the Otways, where the Carlisle River fire is out of control and risks becoming more dangerous.
• Residents in communities south of Colac and large areas of the Great Ocean Road were warned to evacuate before sunset yesterday or risk their lives.
• “Immediate evacuation” warnings remain in place for communities around the Otways fire, while watch and act warnings are still in place for the Walwa and Dargo fires.
• Ambulance Victoria set up its emergency operations center at the start of the weekend heatwave and is preparing to redeploy paramedics to the state’s hardest-hit areas.
• Powercor, the electricity distributor for Melbourne’s CBD and western Victoria, said it would strengthen teams ready for large-scale power outages, including dispatchers and controllers, as networks were expected to be overloaded with people using air conditioning.
• The Australian Open will open its doors early today due to the heat. Organizers have also postponed the wheelchair competition at the Open by 24 hours, and games on outdoor courts may also be suspended if conditions are at their worst.

Stay tuned to our blog today for the latest updates.