AN unknown number of homes and properties have been destroyed in Victoria’s escalating bushfire crisis, amid a state of disaster declaration, a total fire ban and an ongoing battle to control blazes that have razed more than 150,000 hectares.
Premier Jacinta Allan, who declared a state of disaster in 18 local government areas overnight, said on Saturday morning there were 36 active fires, 19 emergency warning alerts and 16 relief centres open across the state.
“We have seen property losses at a number of locations, and so it’s only when it’s safe on the ground to do so, can the impact assessment teams go in to assess the properties and to give us a firm number,” she told ABC News.
“We’ve also got a lot of people in those relief centres who are also anxiously waiting for information about what’s going on in their neighbourhood.”
Three out-of-control fires remained at emergency level in central Victoria, with 69 warnings and 168 incidents across the state.
Ms Allan said the disaster declaration was in response to danger to life or property in the affected areas and “sends a clear message to those who have been advised to leave: if you can, you must”.
Three people remained missing in the dozens of fires amid a severe heatwave on Friday, in what state authorities described as the worst bushfires since the 2019-2020 Black Summer blazes.
Those missing – two adults and a child – were unaccounted for on Thursday after fire destroyed their house in the hard-hit town of Longwood, about 50km north of Melbourne.
In the nearby town of Ruffy, properties, including a school, were lost to fire and a local firefighter was hospitalised with third-degree burns to his hands.
Early on Saturday, Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland said there were “townships destroyed overnight”.
“We’ve got firefighters that will carry the toll of battling this forever. I received calls from people surprised that they are alive,” she told ABC News.
“These are firefighters that have been defending our region for nearly 40 years, and this is like nothing they’ve ever seen – the scale and heat and ferocity of this fire is just like nothing you could imagine.”
Three major fires continued to burn in central Victoria, at Longwood, Walwa and Raveswood.
CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said the Longwood fire was “still very much uncontained”, and emergency warnings were in place for the Walwa and Ravenswood fires.
While conditions were cooler on Saturday, Mr Heffernan said strong winds were “enough to cause firefighters quite some concern and make things difficult on the ground”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “at the worst of times, we see the best of the Australian character”.
“This will be incredibly traumatic and one of the issues that needs to be dealt with in the aftermath of something like this is for mental health support to be provided,” he said.
In Wahring, 150km northeast of Melbourne, Strathbogie Shire deputy mayor Claire Ewart-Kennedy said the situation was “catastrophic, it’s devastating”.
“I’ve got communities that are completely obliterated,” she told ABC News.
“I’ve never seen the type of disruption, displacement of people that I witnessed yesterday, and I’m sure I’ll witness again today.”
“We’ve had issues with drinking water. We’ve had issues with telecommunications and power. We’ve still got people cut off in certain areas.”
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Dean Narramore said a cool change had moved through overnight.
“Thankfully, we didn’t see those really strong winds with that change, but it has led to a direction shift, and … we’re going to see those fires moving towards the east or northeast,” he said.
“So if you were east of any of the fire zones yesterday, you were OK, but today you could be in harm’s way.”
Emergency Management Victoria said the situation remained incredibly dynamic, describing fire conditions as “catastrophic and extreme”, and the gravest in the state since Black Summer in 2019-20.
