Victoria Bushfires LIVE: Plenty residents leaving area because of Plenty Gorge fire

We're going to be wrapping up our live blog of today's Victoria fires coverage now, but will be resuming the blog tomorrow morning from 7am. 

The main area of concern right now is definitely East Gippsland, which, as you can see from this emergency warning map, is almost completely covered in serious alerts: 

People were urged to leave the area on Sunday, but as a result of today's 40-plus temperatures, fire activity has worsened and for much of Gippsland it is now no longer safe to leave. Residents are being urged to seek shelter indoors. 

Of the 35 fires burning throughout Victoria at the moment, 28 of them are in this area, which is twice the size of the entire Melbourne metropolitan region. A total of 180,000 hectares of land has been affected. 

Some of the fires are so large they are generating their own weather systems, and thunderstorms in the area have led to lightning strikes sparking new blazes. There have been record-breaking temperatures in parts of Gippsland too, with Orbost recording its warmest ever December day. 

The area is currently subject to a severe thunderstorm warning too, which heightens the risk of strong winds. 

At Bruthen, town perimeter defences have been breached by fires to the west and the Country Fire Authority says that crews are working hard to contain multiple fires. 

And while the cool change has blown through Melbourne from the west of the state, it's yet to arrive in Gippsland to the east.

The cool change won't hit likely hit there until after midnight, and since it will be accompanied by the wind direction changing, it means the time between now and when the sun rises tomorrow will be unpredictable and critical. 

In the meantime, it is best to keep checking the Vic Emergency website:  https://www.emergency.vic.gov.au/respond/

Stay safe. 

Just before 9pm on Monday gusty winds and light rain that swept through Plenty as the cool change hit an hour earlier had completely eased.

But many residents in the streets surrounding the Plenty Gorge, where a bushfire is burning out of control, were still living the suburb in by the carload, not wanting to risk the chance the fire could worsen and edge closer to their homes overnight.

Plenty residents have been urged to leave the area, in case the change in wind direction caused by the cool change that has passed through Melbourne blows the flames towards them. 

Haider Hamed moved into his 'dream' home in Happy Hollow Drive in Plenty this time last year. On Monday night, he stood at the edge of his driveway with his son Abdul, anxiously peering down at the valley burning below.

"You can usually see the lights of the city from here," he said, pointing out towards the gorge. "But tonight it's just smoke."

The 51-year-old, who sought asylum in Australia from Iraq with his wife and three children, had packed their bags with clothes, passports, jewellry, photographs and electronics. They planned on driving to the emergency relief centre at the Whittlesea Civic Centre in South Morang as soon as darkness fell.

Mr Hamed had a hose ready to wet down the house before he left.

"It might seem a bit useless if the fire turns and comes towards the house.... it's very hard to leave," he said.

"But coming from Iraq, where it is a war zone and you're sitting in a room wearing masks to protect yourself from chemical weapons... we've been through worse and our lives are more important."

An emergency warning has been issued for the Lakes Entrance area (see 8.08pm post) telling residents and visitors that it is too late to leave the area now, and that the safest option is to shelter indoors. 

Wendi Perkins, who owns the Bamboo Motor Inn at Lakes Entrance, said her business was “full up” on Monday night as holidaymakers fled from further east in Gippsland.

She said tourists were shocked that they could not leave the town early on Monday evening because of the closure of the Princes Highway. The Princes Highway has been closed from Bairnsdale to Genoa, about 180 kilometres away. 

“We’ve been watching all the smoke collecting around us, it’s not good,” she said.

“I can’t believe the amount of people that weren’t aware they should have been leaving earlier.

“People are coming in from the fires, and they didn’t realise they couldn’t get out by the main road.

“Now they’re all locked in and they’re saying, ‘Wow, we didn’t know this was going to happen’.”

An emergency warning has been issued for the Orbost area for the suburbs of Bellbird Creek, Bete Bolong, Brodribb River, Cabbage Tree Creek, Cape Conran, Corringle, Jarrahmond, Manorina, Marlo, Murrungowar, Newmerella, Nurran, Orbost, Simpsons Creek, Tabbara, Waygara.

A bushfire is about 15 kilometres from Orbost and has crossed Yalmy Road, and ash and embers are falling on nearby communities, which can potentially start spot fires. 

When the cool change passes through the area about 2am, the wind direction will change so that the wind blows from the south-west. 

It's still 34.8 degrees in Orbost, and the area today recorded its warmest ever December day. It reached 43.1 degrees there just after midday today, a temperature that's almost two degrees warmer than its previous record temperature of 41.3 set in 2015. 

The emergency warning reads: 

You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.

The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.

If you are in the following Orbost, Marlo, Cabbage Tree and surrounding areas it is too late to leave, the safest option is to seek shelter indoors or in built up areas.

The Orbost Cricket Club in Nicholson Street has been set up as an assembly area for those in nearby communities who wish to gather within the township if you do not have any safer options.

The cool change has hit Melbourne, with the temperature plunging from 37.3 degrees at 7pm to 24.1 degrees at 8pm. That dry wind from the north has been drowned out by a cool wind from the south-west. 

That change has hit Melbourne's north too, where an bushfire in Plenty Gorge has been burning out of control since this afternoon.

Residents south of the gorge were told to shelter in their homes earlier, as it was too late to flee the area.

Ange Vlahopoulos watches as the fire approaches his home at 4pm today.Credit: Justin McManus

Luckily, that front of the fire has been brought under control.

A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokeswoman said the fire near Clovemont Way in Bundoora was declared under control at 6:21pm, but the bushfire in Plenty Gorge is still alight.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, with Victoria Police investigating.

Now that the cool change has passed through, residents of Plenty have been urged to leave their homes in case the winds from the south-west blows the fire towards them. 

The State Control Centre says there are 35 ongoing fires across Victoria, with 28 of those in the East Gippsland region.

A total of around 185,000 hectares have been affected by ongoing bushfires across the state. This includes around 180,000 hectares of land affected in the East Gippsland region.

Around 205,000 hectares has been affected by fire across Victoria since July 1 2019.

Smoke plumes from a fire in East Gippsland.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

An emergency warning has been issued for the Lakes Entrance area because of a bushfire at Marthavale - Barmouth Spur that is not yet under control. 

While a large area of East Gippsland has been subject to emergency warnings and Watch and Act warnings throughout today, this is the first time today a warning has been issued for the Lakes Entrance area.

Anyone in the Cunninghame, Kalimna, Kalimna West, Lake Bunga, Lakes Entrance and Nyerimilang  areas are being urged to take shelter indoors immediately as it is too late to leave. 

The State Control Centre is warning of spot fires in the area.  If you live in the built up area of Lakes Entrance embers may fall and start spot fires. If you live in the northern area of Lakes Entrance surrounded by bush the fire may directly impact houses and properties.

There is a south westerly wind change expected at around midnight, after this change the fire will travel in a north easterly direction.

Late on Monday police closed the Princes Highway from Bairnsdale to Genoa - about 180 kilometres of road - a move which prevents any more holidaymakers from leaving Lakes Entrance.

On Sunday Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp told the more than 30,000 tourists who were in the town to pack up and go immediately before the bushfires closed in.

The temperature in Plenty has started to drop, bringing with it a light rain and gusty winds.

But the rain has done little to ease the threat of fire on nearby by houses with two water bomber still circling the blaze in the gorge below.

As black smoke filled the sky and a fire burned out-of-control at the Plenty Gorge nearby, Mackelroy Road residents Ben and Lydia packed the boot of their car with clothes and valuables just before 7pm.

The couple feared the cool change, set to sweep in at 8pm, would bring with it dangerous winds which may fan the flames towards their orange brick home which is surrounded by bushland.

"We're going to go stay with my parents in Ringwood," Ben said. "We've already taken our five-year-old son there. It's just not worth risking our lives."

Plenty residents Ben, Lydia and their dog Eli prepare to evacuate their Mackelroy Road home ahead of a wind change.Credit: Luis Ascui

Their neighbour Greyhound trainer Alison Patten has decided to shelter inside for now, but she is bracing for a sleepless night.

Ms Patten plans to evacuate her horses and 25 greyhounds from her property if the wind suddenly changes and the fire edges closer.

"We've got our trailer set-up and I've got a mate who lives around the corner and he's got his trailer set up to help us, so yeah, we're all ready to go," she said. "It's quite scary though as for years and years whenever we've walked through the gorge we've always said 'if that ever goes up, it's going to go up."They haven't cleared the land properly in years, it's pretty bad in there."

Residents of Plenty - in the area shaded orange in the map below - are being urged to leave the area ahead of a wind change that will pass through the area shortly, sending the bushfire towards them.

The area affected by the Plenty Gorge bushfire (shaded in black). People in the orange shaded areas are being urged to leave the area ahead of a wind change about 8pm. Credit: Vic Emergency

Brunswick resident Aaron Hart was only just setting up his campsite at the Cape Conron Coastal Park on Sunday morning when Parks Victoria staff warned that he and his family would have to leave by 5pm.

He was one of thousands of holiday makers who left East Gippsland after warnings from emergency services yesterday.

“At that time I thought that they were probably being conservative,” Mr Hart said.

“Obviously we were going to leave, so we packed up our campsite, we went for a swim… and then the police came by. That’s when it became clear it was more serious.”

Mr Hart said it was a “scramble of communication” with friends and family who were also in East Gippsland and had little phone reception.

“It seems like the Thurra river campsite hasn’t burned yet - that place is close to my heart, I’ve been taking my 15-year-old daughter there since she was born,” he said.

"We got back to Brunswick just on dark last night, it was a bit hectic on the roads."