Uncontrolled fires burned through bushland in the Australian state of Victoria yesterday, forcing communities to evacuate and authorities to warn of a “catastrophic” fire danger rating for today.
Amid temperatures that exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the state, two large bushfires were raging near the towns of Longwood and Walwa.
The fires have destroyed at least two structures and are expected to continue to spread today as heat and wind pick up, authorities said.
The Longwood fire has grown to more than 61,776 acres in size, while the Walwa fire is 24,710 acres and has created its own weather system, with a pyrocumulonimbus cloud causing lightning and thunder. Residents in dozens of neighbouring towns have been told to evacuate.
Today’s fire danger rating will be set at “catastrophic”, the highest level, and both fires pose a real risk of loss of life and property, authorities said.
“Tomorrow is a very, very dire bushfire day in the state of Victoria,” Country Fire Authority Chief Officer Jason Heffernan told a news conference.
The bushfires come amid an intense summer heatwave in Australia’s south. Meteorologists have said conditions are on par with 2019, when bushfires destroyed wide swathes of southeastern Australia, killing 33 people, in what became known as the Black Summer.
Some 450 schools in Victoria are set to close today and many regional train services will be cancelled.
Total fire bans were issued in several districts yesterday. A total fire ban will be imposed across the whole state today.
Acting Victoria state premier Ben Carroll urged people to prepare evacuation plans.
“You do not know until you are surrounded by fire how loud it is, how smoky, how stressful,” he told reporters.
“It is a scary environment that no one should have to go through.”
Firemen are already trying to contain blazes dotted across the states of Victoria and New South Wales.
Millions of people across Australia’s two most populous states have been warned to remain on high alert, including in major cities Sydney and Melbourne.
Government forecaster Sarah Scully said a band of “extreme” heat had settled across the country.
“There’s also dry thunderstorms forecast across Victoria and southern New South Wales,” she said.
“Those dry thunderstorms have very little rainfall in them, but they can ignite new fires.”
Hundreds of baby bats died earlier this week as stifling temperatures hit the state of South Australia, a local wildlife group said.
In New Zealand, the country’s weather provider, MetService, also warned of record warm temperatures over the weekend as the heatwave moves across the Tasman Sea.
It has issued heat alerts for parts of the eastern coast of New Zealand and the north of the South Island.
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