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Generally cooler and less blustery conditions have brought some relief to Victoria’s firefighters, but there are fresh warnings for a blaze south of Colac while the massive fire fronts in the state’s central north and north-east districts remain a key concern.
Thirty-two fires continue to burn across the state, according to the State Control Centre, with the fire fronts generally moving in a northerly direction due to gusts from the south. A total fire ban for Victoria has been extended until the early hours of Monday morning.
Severe to extreme heatwave conditions have eased over the western and central parts of Victoria, with maximum temperatures across the state expected to reach the mid-teens to low thirties on Sunday.
Air quality across Melbourne was good as of Sunday morning, but remained poor in swathes of central and northeastern Victoria. Bendigo, Castlemaine and Daylesford were reporting “very poor” air quality as of 7am, while Beechworth residents were facing “extremely poor” air quality.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Daniel Sherwin-Simpson told ABC Radio Melbourne said that while damaging winds were not expected on Sunday, there could be 50km/h gusts near Seymour.
“That’s probably going to be the windiest place of the state, up through those central ranges,” he said. “That might lead to some difficulty with that near Longwood that’s going to start propagating northwards.”
A home destroyed by fire in Ruffy.Credit: Eddie Jim
The official size of the Longwood fire has been reduced to 136,000 hectares, down from the 142,000 hectares recorded late on Saturday. There are 400 firefighters and 100 appliances on the fire ground this morning, although their numbers are expected to soon be bolstered.
Attention was focused on trying to hold the fire in an area between Merton and Bonnie Doon on Saturday afternoon; on Sunday morning, Bonnie Doon remains under a watch and act warning, meaning residents are unable to return home.
The latest advice for residents of Eildon and nearby surrounds is to take shelter, while those in Avenel, to the west of the blaze, have been told to stay alert.
The Bureau’s Sherwin-Simpson said that while temperatures were “coming down a bit” across Victoria, he was expecting heat to linger around parts of the north-east.
Corryong, which has closed its hospital and relief centre due to its proximity to the Walwa blaze, is tipped to reach 33 degrees on Sunday.
The out-of-control bushfire, 25 kilometres west of Walwa, prompted a new warning to “leave immediately” during the early hours of Sunday morning.
VicEmergency issued the alert just after midnight for Granya, Bungil, Burrowye, Walwa and surrounds, advising that conditions can become very dangerous and unpredictable. By 7am, the advice for those in Corryong, Cudgewa, Mitta Mitta, Dartmouth and surrounds was to take shelter immediately as the blaze raged.
A relief centre has been set up in Wodonga. People to the north of the fire front are being urged to leave via NSW.
There is also an out-of-control fire about six kilometres east of Kennedys Creek in the Cape Otway area, south of Colac, that is travelling in a north-easterly direction towards private property.
Residents of Carlisle River were told to take shelter immediately in the early hours of Sunday morning. Those in Kawarren, Barongarook West, Irrewillipe, Irrewillipe East, Gellibrand, Chapple Vale, Charleys Creek, Kincaid, Pile Siding and Weeaproinah have been instructed to leave immediately.
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Sections of the Great Ocean Road are closed, and those affected by the Otways fires have been told to head to Colac, where a relief centre has been set up. There is a separate relief centre for larger animals.
One caller to ABC Radio, a resident of Wangaratta, said he and a small army of volunteers had been euthanising severely injured livestock.
They had seen “thousands” of dead sheep and “hundreds” of dead cattle, the caller said, as well as plenty of deceased kangaroos and a few deer.
Hunting and fishing businesses have donated ammunition to farmers needing to put down their livestock, while agribusinesses and Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland have helped coordinate urgent animal feed to prevent surviving stock from starving.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Victoria and is expected to visit a bushfire control centre alongside Premier Jacinta Allan on Sunday morning.
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