Thirty-one homes lost. Tens of thousands of hectares razed. As summer drew to a close, Victoria’s east burned.
Beginning last Thursday and stretching from just east of Melbourne to far east Gippsland, Victoria’s bushfire crisis has eased but is not over yet.
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Four major blazes — at Bunyip State Park, Dargo, Licola and Yinnar South — have together claimed more than 80,000 hectares and firefighters cannot say when they’ll be out.
Nine homes were destroyed and one was damaged at Bunyip, while the tally for Yinnar South stands at two.
Twenty-three structures were partially or fully destroyed after residents fled for their lives, some with little more than the clothes on their backs.
KEY FACTS
* 2900-plus grass and bushfires this summer
* 80,000-plus hectares burnt in the Bunyip, Licola, Dargo and Yinnar South fires
* 2000-plus firefighters battled four blazes
* 330 community warnings issued
* 70-plus emergency warnings issued
* 1200 people at relief centres
Herald Sun photographers were in the fire zone recording the moment as firefighters and locals joined forces to save properties.
These dramatic images from news photographers, and from locals who shared their images on social media, capture the ferocity of the conditions.
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