Victorians and South Australians are bracing for a day of catastrophic and extreme fire risk, with temperatures set to soar to the low 40s in both states.
A bushfire that began last Thursday is still burning out of control in Victoria, north-west of Ballarat, with firefighters now preparing for further blazes.
A catastrophic fire rating has been confirmed for Wimmera, and other areas in the state’s south-west are being monitored and could be escalated from extreme to catastrophic.
More than 600 firefighters from Victoria and New South Wales have been deployed in the region to help combat the spread of fire.
About 160 of the firefighters and other staff spent the night at a fire operations base camp in Ballarat.
Incident controller Steve Grant told ABC the crews worked through the night to contain the blaze, but that the worst could still be yet to come.
“It’s going to be a very bad day,” Mr Grant told ABC Radio Ballarat on Wednesday morning.
“It’s already blowing at about 15 to 20 kilometres, and it’s quite warm this morning.
“Catastrophic is the worst conditions we can get.”
Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said the fire would continue to burn for “a long time”.
“It will burn for a long time, down deep in old trees and whatever,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“Crews have just done an amazing job on the ground over the last little while trying to put out that fire, to contain that fire, but the risk is, with the heat and the wind, that embers are blown forward and then start spot fires.”
Residents have been strongly advised to prepare their bushfire plans and be prepared to evacuate if necessary.
Mr Heffernan urged people intending to stay and defend properties in areas where the catastrophic conditions were forecast to reconsider.
“Unless your property is immaculately prepared and you have firefighting resources available, and you are fit and you are mentally capable to sustain a long duration fire fight … my strong advice to the community is leave early,” he said.
At least six homes were destroyed last week by fire near the community of Raglan.
A watch and act warning is still in place for Amphitheatre, Bayindeen, Ben Nevis, Chute, Elmhurst, Eversley, Glenlogie, Main Lead, Mount Cole, Mount Lonarch, Raglan and Waterloo with residents advised it is still not safe to return.
South Australia faces extreme fire danger
Conditions are also expected to raise the fire danger in South Australia, with an extreme rating issued for seven districts in the state.
Flinders, Mid North, Mount Lofty Ranges, Riverland, Murraylands, Upper South East and Lower South East have all been rated extreme.
SA’s Emergency Services Minister Joe Szakacs said today’s conditions will be some of the “harshest” experienced this summer in South Australia.
“Complacency must be parked to the side. We are, as a state, facing some serious conditions and now is the time for those people in the seven districts and the broader districts that are also facing some tough weather tomorrow to put in place their bushfire planning,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Country Fire Service Deputy Chief Officer Georgie Cornish urged people not to be complacent after the state’s mild summer.
“It will be a long day so we will need the support from the community to be ready and prepared,” Ms Cornish said.
It’s expected to be hot and windy across the state with no rain forecast, with conditions not expected to ease until the evening.
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