Western Victoria emergency services advise residents to leave by Wednesday midday due to fires.
The Wimmera region in the west was expected to reach catastrophic levels on Wednesday afternoon, and half the state was under fire threat.
Country Fire Authority (CFA) chief Jason Heffernan recommended communities reconsider house protection. He said natural disasters can level buildings.
“My strong advice to the community is that unless your property is properly equipped, you don’t have the resources to put out a fire. Leave early, and you won’t be able to help yourself.
After a cloud ring broke over western Victoria, morning temperatures soared quickly.
Victoria may reach the mid-40s; Mildura may reach 44°C. Winds from the northwest to the northeast were forecast to be 20–30 km/h.
At 11.30 am, the Bureau of Meteorology reported Mildura temperatures exceeding 38 °C.
Central Victoria was expected to see a cold shift with dry lightning and 80 km/h winds at 8 p.m. 35°C and 45 km/h northerlies were predicted for Melbourne.
The 22,000-hectare Bayindeen fire northwest of Ballarat was contained on Wednesday, but firefighters expected windy conditions.
Read More
CFA incident controller Jarrod Hayse says “there is a real risk this Victoria fire could breach containment lines, and those communities could be impacted by fire or smoke or cut off from essential services.”
Hayse reported that workers saw flames. Since Thursday, six homes have burned.
Western Victoria authorities fear the fire may spread to Beaufort, Elmhurst, the Amphitheatre, Lexton, Learmonth, and Clunes. Threats may rise Wednesday at noon.
30,000 Victorians in the Ballarat-Arat fire zone must flee by Wednesday morning or Tuesday night.
Mallee, Northern Country, North Central, Central, and South West fire-prone residents should prepare.
Escape to Maryborough, Ballarat, and Ararat.
On Tuesday, Premier Jacinta Allan called Wednesday “incredibly difficult.”
She says, “It looks like tomorrow will be one of the riskiest fire days Victoria has seen in a long time.”
150 NSW firefighters, thousands of Victorian firefighters, and 60 planes arrived at Ballarat and Halls Gap.
On Tuesday afternoon, Victoria Police Strategic Commander Jason Templar informed a Pyrenees shire council meeting in Beaufort that swift deployment teams will block roads on Wednesday at the incident controller’s request.
“We close them solely for the protection of the public; those roads are too dangerous to be on,” she adds.
The NSW Rural Fire Service reported reserve planes near Victoria. There were 25 engines and 110 RFS firemen fighting the Bayindeen fire.
The government predicted afternoon and evening thunderstorms, but not the destructive storms that cut power to nearly 500,000 Victorians.
Wednesday may bring eastern South Australian wildfires. Emergency Services Minister Joe Szakacs cautioned state firefighters about the worst weather of the season.
South Australia had seven fire-prone zones on Wednesday.
Share this content:
