Victorian bushfire crisis: State of disaster declared, three missing, one reported dead, homes destroyed

Victoria is under a total fire ban as the state battles a mounting bushfire crisis that has destroyed at least 10 homes, prompted evacuations and razed more than 50,000 hectares of bushland.

Prime Minister Jacinta Allan announced overnight that a state of disaster had been declared in 18 local government areas as well as Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, while officials in Wahring warned that some communities had been “completely destroyed”.

He said the declaration was in response to danger to life or property in affected areas and “sends a clear message to those who have been advised to leave the area: If you can, you should.” “Tonight I declared a State of Disaster which gives our authorities additional powers to confront an emergency of extraordinary magnitude and danger. It’s all about one thing: protecting Victorian lives. And it sends a clear message: if you’ve been told to go – go,” Ms Allan said.

18 local government areas in disaster:

Alpine Shire Ararat Rural City Colac Otway Shire Corangamite ShireEast Gippsland ShireGolden Plains ShireGreater Bendigo CityHorsham Rural CityLake Mountain Alpine Resort (Unincorporated)Mansfield Shire Mildura Rural City Mitchell ShireMoira Shire Mount Alexander Shire Murrindindi ShirePyrenees Shire Strathbogie ShireTowong ShireWellington Shire

Three people remained missing as dozens of fires burned Friday amid a severe heat wave that state officials described as the worst wildfires since the 2019-2020 Black Summer fires.

The missing people, two adults and a child, were missing after a fire destroyed their home in the town of Longwood, about 50 kilometers north of Melbourne, on Thursday, authorities said.

In the nearby town of Ruffy, property including a school was lost to fire and a local firefighter was hospitalized with third-degree burns to his hands.

About 230 km to the east, a separate fire near the border town of Walwa destroyed a pine tree plantation.

The massive Longwood fire has burned more than 35,000 hectares, while the fire near Walwa has burned more than 17,000 hectares.

Both fires, some of the state’s fiercest, were expected to burn uncontrolled for weeks despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters.

In Wahring, 150 kilometers north-east of Melbourne, Strathbogie Shire deputy mayor Claire Ewart-Kennedy told the ABC the situation was “catastrophic, devastating”.

“I have communities that have been completely destroyed,” he said early Saturday.

“I have never seen the kind of disruption, the displacement of people that I witnessed yesterday, and I’m sure I will witness it again today.”

“It’s still incredibly windy and very dangerous, critical infrastructure has been affected. We’ve had issues with drinking water. We’ve had issues with telecommunications and energy. People are still without power in some areas.”

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Dean Narramore said a huge change had happened overnight.

“Fortunately, we haven’t seen very strong winds with this change, but it has led to a change in direction and we will see fires move east or northeast.

“So if you were east of any of the fire zones yesterday you would be OK, but today you could be in danger.”

Rising temperatures increased fire risk on Friday; As the mercury rose into the mid-40s in central Victoria, wind speeds reached up to 90 km/h.

Early on Saturday, several fires were at emergency level – the highest degree of danger – as the Country Fire Authority declared a total fire ban for the day.

The agency warned that hot, strong winds would likely fuel the fires, many of which were ignited by lightning strikes.

Ms Allan said fire activity was becoming more extreme as existing fires led to new out-of-control fires.

“This combination of weather factors creates conditions where fires on the landscape can become uncontrollable very quickly,” Ms Allan said in Melbourne.

Emergency Management Victoria described the fire conditions as “catastrophic and extreme” and said the situation remained incredibly dynamic and was the worst in the state since the Black Summer of 2019-20.