Victoria is under a total fire ban as the state battles an escalating bushfire crisis that has destroyed at least 10 homes, prompted evacuations and razed more than 50,000 hectares of bushland.
A state of disaster was declared in 18 local government areas as well as the Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, Premier Jacinta Allan announced overnight.
She said the 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 burning on Friday amid a severe heatwave, 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, authorities said.
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.
About 230km eastward, a separate fire near the border town of Walwa, tore through a pine tree plantation.
The massive Longwood fire has burned more than 35,000 hectares while the blaze near Walwa has burned more than 17,000.
Both fires, among the fiercest raging across the state, were expected to burn uncontrolled for weeks, despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters working in the field.
Soaring temperatures exacerbated Friday’s fire risk, with the mercury soaring into the mid-40s in central Victoria, while wind gusts were clocked at up to 90km/h.
Early on Saturday, multiple fires were at emergency level – the highest danger rating – as the Country Fire Authority declared a total fire ban for the day.
The agency warned warm and strong winds would likely fan the blazes, many of which ignited due to lightning strikes.
Ms Allan said fire activity had become more extreme as existing blazes sparked new out-of-control fires.
“This combination of weather factors simply creates the conditions where fires in the landscape can very quickly become uncontrollable,” Ms Allan said in Melbourne.
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.
At an evacuation centre in the town of Seymour, close to Longwood, local Jan Newton said leaving her home brought back memories of 2009’s Black Saturday, which claimed 173 lives.
“Looking at the house, you look at it and think I’ve lived here for 50 years, and I’ve gone through five bushfires – I’m praying my luck hasn’t run out,” she said on Friday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said a cold front would bring cooler conditions to Victoria on Saturday, with maximum temperatures in the mid-20s.
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