Residents in Victoria’s west have been advised to leave before midday on what authorities have warned could be the worst day of bushfire risk in recent years.
The conditions are extending into South Australia, where there are extreme fire danger ratings in the state’s south-east.
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Melbourne’s top temperature revised down
A tiny bit of good news on the weather front, with Melbourne’s top temperature today now forecast to be 35 instead of 37.
That may not seem like much but it’s better than nothing.
It’s still going to be extremely hot in many places, including Mildura where the top is expected to hit 44 before a late cool change.
Ouyen is forecast to hit 43 today and the top is Swan Hill is expected to reach 42.
Oddly, it’s currently raining in some parts of the state’s west but it’s not expected to last long.
Here’s what firefighters have been up to near Mt Cole
Reporting by Daniel Miles
Volunteer firefighters have done a swathe of preparatory work around western Victoria over the last few days.
These snaps were taken by volunteers at the Skipton CFA of containment and prep work around Mt Cole and surrounds.
Mt Cole is around 65 kilometres north-west of Ballarat, in western Victoria and close to the Bayindeen fire which has been burning out of control for a number of days.
‘No meaningful rain on the horizon’
It’s going to be hot and windy across SA for most of the day with no rain in sight.
Jonathan Fischer from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Tuesday that South Australia would experience hot north-westerly winds that could reach more than 50kph.
He said eastern and northern parts of the state would experience peak fire danger in the afternoon.
“We won’t see a significant easing of conditions until Wednesday evening and into Thursday when the humidity increases,” Mr Fischer said.
Country Fire Service deputy Chief Officer Georgie Cornish said on Tuesday that “there is no meaningful rain on the horizon over the next period of time”.
Reporting by Joshua Boscaini
Family and 21 animals evacuate Lexton
Reporting by Daniel Miles
Rebecca O’Callaghan and her partner Benjamin Marshall left their home in Lexton, near Beaufort, in the early hours of this morning, packing the car with their two kids, three alpacas, three sheep, two goats and 13 chickens.
The animals were dropped off at a friend’s property before the family of four continued to Ballarat.
“It was pretty hectic, we’re really exhausted this morning especially with my toddler’s routine being thrown around he was up until midnight,” she said
“But I keep thinking there’s no way I’m as exhausted as the CFA.”
They’ve bunkered down in Ballarat now, her toddler Rupert is very happy with his mattress on the floor.
It’s the second time the family has been forced leave their home in a week due to the bushfires.
But they also feel concerned about the chance of looting at their unattended home after the issue was raised by police at a community meeting.
“I feel safe, I know that local police will try and enforce anything they can, but there’s always going to be somebody who tries to take advantage of a horrible situation.”
Some people are staying to defend their properties
Thousands of residents near an out-of-control bushfire north-west of Ballarat have been advised to leave by midday ahead of potentially catastrophic conditions.
But some residents have chosen to stay behind and defend their properties from any bushfire threat.
Gianni Hodgson is one of those staying behind and said he planned to patrol his large property for any spot fires.
“[I’m] anxious but also not too concerned, we’ve got several other people neighbour-wise also staying behind,” he said.
“So between the group of us we’ve all got look out points to look out for anything that could be of concern so we can call it in before it takes off.”
Here’s some advice from the ABC Emergency website for how to prepare for a bushfire, whether you’re leaving or staying to defend:
Ballarat base camp ready for the fight
Reporting by Daniel Miles
A fire operations “base camp” has been setup at Victoria Park in Ballarat.
There’s beds, tents, showers, a communications centre and enough parking space for dozens of fire trucks.
Around 160 firefighters and other staff associated spent the night last night after a mammoth 48-hour setup effort.
Rohan Luke, the CFA’s Deputy Chief Officer, is on hand in Ballarat and says the camp feels like a little township.
“We’ve been able to take the pressure off local community [members] trying to find accommodation, and it lets us bring all out people together and ensure they’re being supported,” he said.
Mr Luke said setting up camps like this was “a bit rare”.
It’s currently housing local crews as well as additional resources from Gippsland and New South Wales.
“We are expecting a difficult fight, hence the reason why there’s significant planning [occurring].”
‘Extreme’ fire danger for parts of South Australia, CFS says
South Australia is also expecting poor fire conditions today.
The SA Country Fire Service (CFS) has declared total fire bans with an extreme fire danger rating for these seven districts:
- Flinders
- Mid North
- Riverland
- Murraylands
- Upper South East
- Lower South East
- Mount Lofty Ranges
For more on what’s happening in South Australia, follow the ABC’s coverage here:
Bayindeen fire will burn ‘for a long time’
We’ve had an update this morning on the Bayindeen fire near Ballarat, which has been burning out of control for a number of days.
The blaze claimed several homes last week and there are fears it could spread quickly in today’s conditions.
Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said hundreds of firefighters continued to battle the blaze.
“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.”
Hot and windy morning near Ballarat
Reporting by Daniel Miles
The CFA says some early morning cloud cover in the state’s west will provide some brief reprieve from dangerous fire conditions.
However “brief” is the key word here, with the potential for catastrophic conditions remaining.
The mercury’s tipped to hit 40 degrees in some areas, with strong northerly winds and the chance of thunderstorms and dry lightning.
Steve Grant’s the incident controller in Ballarat, keeping a close eye on the Bayindeen fire near Beaufort that remains of concern.
He’s had fire crews working on containment lines throughout the night working on the fire’s edge.
“It’s going to be a very bad day,” he told ABC Radio Ballarat.
“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.”
Beaufort residents given until lunchtime to leave
Reporting by Daniel Miles
State Incident Control Centre spokesperson, Luke Hegarty, is doing the media rounds on local radio this morning.
His main message to anyone in a high-risk area is to enact your fire plan early, rather than scrambling when a “fire’s at your backdoor”.
“Our big concern [is] we don’t want people trying to move once the fire’s started,” he told ABC Radio Horsham.
Around 100 firefighters from New South Wales have been deployed to the Wimmera region, where a “catastrophic” fire rating is in place.
“We’ve [also] moved a number of resources in from the eastern part of the state where the fire dangers are a little bit lower. We’ve put them in strategic spots around Ballarat and the surrounding areas,” Mr Hegarty said.
Luke Hegarty told residents further east in the Beaufort/Bayindeen area that they had until around lunchtime to move unless they planned to stay and defend.
He’s urged anyone that’s leaving to pack early, “while you’ve got a clear head”.
“We heard through Statewide Drive last week that there was someone in the Lexton area who packed the complete works of Shakespeare but forgot to pack their medications and passport,” he said.
“Now’s the time to make those decisions, not when you’re under pressure.”
What is the fire danger near me?
Here’s a map of the fire danger today in Victoria.
The west of the state is likely to be most at risk, with a catastrophic fire danger rating in place for the Wimmera.
Victorian and South Australian communities brace for bushfire threat
Welcome to our blog.
We’re keeping across the situation in Victoria and South Australia as communities deal with extreme or catastrophic fire conditions today.
Here’s how you can keep tabs on emergency warnings:
- For the latest warnings, visit the ABC Emergency website.
- Listen to ABC Local Radio for regular updates — find your local broadcaster here.
- For more information, visit the Vic Emergency website.
