Grampians residents told to leave now as bushfires burn out of control
Bushfire conditions are expected to worsen in coming days as temperatures soar across Victoria, with firefighters still battling an out-of-control blaze in the Grampians.
Victoria
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Multiple bushfires are raging across Victoria, with residents in parts of the state’s west urged to evacuate.
The most significant blaze is burning in the Grampians where more than 350 firefighters are working around the clock to contain the 34,000ha fire.
SUNDAY
7pm
An emergency level warning of ‘leave immediately’ has been issued for Barton and Moyston as of 7pm on Sunday evening.
The emergency warning read “the fire is now travelling in a north east direction and is now spotting into areas between Spears Road and College Road.”
“The bushfire could impact Mafeking, Watgania and areas west of the Moyston township in the next two hours.”
There are additional relief centres set up at Alexandra Oval Community Centre and Grampians Community Health or “The Shacc”.
3.44pm
An emergency level warning of watch and act for the townships of Mafeking and Watgania was upgraded to leave immediately at 3.44pm on Sunday.
The new emergency warning read “weather conditions have changed and the fire is now travelling in a north-easterly direction from the Major Mitchell Plateau and Mafeking area”.
It also said that both towns could be directly impacted within two hours.
Those who are now forced to leave are being told to leave using the Dunkeld-Moyston Road and head towards Ararat or Stawell.
There are relief centres set up at Alexandra Oval Community Centre in Ararat and Grampians Community Health in Stawell.
The State Control Centre’s Luke Heagerty said it was important people leave that area while other communities needed to remain vigilant.
“There has been a change in fire behaviour,” he said. “Leaving now is the best option for community members still in the area.
“We still have a number of other watch and act warnings in place associated with the Grampians National Park fire.”
3pm
The State Control Centre’s Luke Heagerty said firefighters were intending to do as much as possible on Sunday while the conditions were favourable and smoke would likely start drifting across the state in coming days.
“There is a little bit of variability in the weather, but generally we’re seeing kinder conditions,” he said.
“That may mean as the weather does change over the next couple of days, people may see some smoke both within the fire area, but we may see some drift across the state as well, as we saw on Friday.”
Pomonal local Marc Sleeman said he decided to stay and defend his property rather than evacuate like much of the town.
“I’ve got 50 acres, and the back of the property abuts the National Park,” he said.
“So the fire fronts about 2km from the back of my property and it’s been a very active two days of water bombing.
“Residents were asked to leave on Friday night and Saturday morning and most people have left Pomonal.
“My property got quite significantly impacted by the last fire, and I am very lucky to be still in the house, but it means that my whole property is quite open.
I’m here just defending potential ember attacks, and I’m well prepared and got plenty of water and sprinkles going around the house. So I’m staying put this time.”
10am
Despite favourable conditions overnight, emergency warnings remain in place Halls Gap and surrounds with the out-of-control bushfire having now burnt through 34,000ha.
CFA deputy chief officer Garry Cook said control lines had been extended overnight but conditions on Sunday would again test firefighters.
“There will be southerly winds of some strength across the fire ground today, that will put pressure back on all those edges,” he said.
“So it’s a pretty dynamic situation. It’s a big fire, there’s still a lot of unburnt fuel in the Grampians, so it’s quite a challenge for the days ahead.”
Mr Cook added that the festive days ahead were set to be a real challenge for emergency services and the residents affected by the fires, with temperatures set to soar.
“Really hot temperatures coming in, temperatures sort of 40C-plus, strong, hot northerly winds, and then a blustery southwest change coming through later in the evening,” he said
“So that’s going to be a really challenging day, not just because of the risk of the fire, but the fires we’ve already got in the landscape.
“The fuels are there. And we’ve got ignition sources from lightning that caused these fires … and that’s just what we’re going to have to deal with now for the remainder of summer.”
VicEmergency incident controller Aaron Kennedy said it was exceedingly difficult to keep the Grampians blaze under control due to the “very steep and difficult terrain”.
“Our firefighting operations have been hampered by quite significant winds and an underlying fuel dryness,” he said.
“We expect we’ll be dealing with this fire well into January.”
“The fire could burn for weeks, as Grampians National Park has a lot of fuel and very little rain has been forecast,” a statement read.
The latest warnings issued are telling residents of Bellfield, Bellfield Settlement, Flat Rock Crossing, Fyans Creek, Grampians Junction, Halls Gap to leave immediately, and those that have left not to return.
Those living in Lake Fyans, Pomonal, Barton, Jallukur, Londonderry, Mafeking, Watgania, Bornes Hill, Grampians, Jimmy Creek, Mirranatwa and Victoria Valley are being told to monitor the situation and be prepared to leave.
Those that have already left those areas are also being told not to return.
A fire near Bullengarook had been downgraded to Watch and Act on Sunday morning.
‘It’s just gut wrenching’
Tourism industry leaders in fire-affected Halls Gap and surrounds have revealed the area is set to lose out on nearly $2m a day due to the natural disaster.
The area, which is still recovering from bushfires in February this year, is again set to lose out during its busiest period.
Tourism Grampians Wimmera Mallee CEO Marc Sleeman said it was devastating for local businesses to be hit twice in 2024.
“We did an economic bushfire economic impact assessment from those February bushfires,” he said.
“The modelling estimated that we lost about $202m in revenue during that period, and at a decline of about 560,000 visitors and that fire was a baby in relation to what we are seeing today.
“This fire is expected to be in the landscape for three to five weeks and it’s just gut wrenching that it’s happening at a time when it’s the busiest period for our tourism operators across the region.
“The economic impact of the Halls Gap being closed is felt right across the broader Wimmera Mallee Region.”
Mr Sleeman said the bushfires closing down the area would cost the sector well north of $1.5m a day.
“There’s about 6000 beds in Halls Gap and the impact of one-day and domestic overnight visitor spend is substantial,” he said.
“Taking into account the day trip visitors that would come in from the likes of Dunkeld and Pomona and further afield, that grand figure equates to about $1.9m per day of lost revenue for our region.”
The unknown of it all was already taking its toll on the region and the business owners operating in it, Mr Sleeman said.
“For all of the holiday parks, the forward bookings are really unknown, because we don’t know when visitors will be able to get back into Halls Gap,” he said.
“The financial impact is already taking a toll.”
SATURDAY
6pm
Emergency services have downgraded a warning for Poromal from “evacuate immediately” to “watch and act”.
Residents were advised to leave as soon as they could, as authorities said the roads would become busy as people flee the region.
Poromal is still recovering from a blaze that claimed a third of the town’s homes in February.
Residents at Wartook and Zurmsteins in the north of the Grampians have been told to keep informed as the fire burns in their direction.
Halls Gap and Bellfield residents have been told to evacuate immediately, and not to return if they had left, in an alert issued at 5.48pm.
3pm
The spread of the fire at Bullengarook has slowed, but authorities have urged residents to continue evacuating.
The CFA initially said it would be too late to leave after 2.30pm on Saturday, but have revised this to 5.30pm.
They credit “fire suppression activity” for slowing the blaze.
2pm
Emergency services issued an alert to residents in Bellfield, Bellfield Settlement, Flat Rock Crossing, Fyans Creek, Grampians Junction and Halls Gap to leave immediately.
The alert said that leaving after 6pm on Saturday would be “considered life threatening”.
They recommended people in this area leave via Grampians Road and head towards Stawell.
Residents in Bullengarook, near Gisborne, have also been urged to leave immediately, with the CFA warning that it may be too late to leave after 2.30pm on Saturday.
The CFA advised residents that a relief centre is open at Kyneton Racecourse, and that Coffeys Rd and Waterloo Flat Rd are closed.
This EMERGENCY WARNING - BUSHFIRE is being issued for Bullengarook
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) December 21, 2024
If you are located in the warning area, north of Bullengarook, it is recommended you evacuate immediately and move to a safer location away from the fire.
More details at https://t.co/k2bJLep9vApic.twitter.com/KdBiD3Ulgz
This WATCH & ACT - BUSHFIRE is being issued for Coffeys Rd, Bullengarook.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) December 21, 2024
The situation can change at any time. You must monitor conditions and be ready to act.
More details at https://t.co/u4DDPK4oENpic.twitter.com/3UpUKqHWAd
This is an EMERGENCY WARNING - BUSHFIRE - Evacuate Immediately for Bullengarook.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) December 21, 2024
If you are located in the warning area, north of Bullengarook, it is recommended you evacuate immediately and move to a safer location away from the fire.
More details at https://t.co/VFXLqT2odBpic.twitter.com/wwCbaVzOQJ
11am
On Saturday morning, residents in Pomonal and the region surrounding Lake Fyans were told to evacuate immediately.
Authorities said the bushfire was travelling from Grampians National Park in a northerly direction, and that it had reached Lake Bellfield.
The warning was issued by Forest Fire Management Victoria.
A relief centre is open at the Alexandra Oval Community Centre in Ararat.
Residents in Mafeking, Watgania, Bellfield and Halls Gap have also been told to leave the area immediately.
This EMERGENCY WARNING - BUSHFIRE - Leave Immediately is for Bellfield, Halls Gap, Lake Fyans, Pomonal.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) December 20, 2024
Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous.
More details at https://t.co/J8tL9JDOn6pic.twitter.com/wSJ7JoWOhO
The Grampians National Park bushfire has continued to spread throughout the night, with the fire now over 28,000 hectares in size. Residents in Mafeking, Watgania, Bellfield and Halls Gap have been told to leave the area immediately. Stay informed: https://t.co/FeB4eqQb5hpic.twitter.com/idMZjVNHVf
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) December 20, 2024
Residents were first warned when an emergency alert was issued for the small community of Mirranatwa, located in the state’s west, about 4pm on Wednesday.
Authorities advised the area’s 31 residents to evacuate immediately, urging them to leave “before conditions become too dangerous.”
As of Friday evening, the fire was still burning through the region with emergency services warning that it “could burn for weeks” due to its difficult terrain and ongoing dry heat heading into the weekend.
The fire has also caused widespread smoke impacting air quality across large areas of Victoria including parts of Melbourne.
Residents have been urged to take precautions against the hazardous air.
Gurdies blaze sparks evacuations
A separate bushfire broke out on Friday afternoon on the Bass Coast near Phillip Island.
The blaze near the Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve prompted evacuations, with residents of nearby homes advised to shelter indoors.
Emergency Warning - Bushfire - Take Shelter Now for Loch, St Helier, The Gurdies, Woodleigh.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) December 20, 2024
More details at https://t.co/RP7QseKkhB...
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. pic.twitter.com/C0NrInOTiY
Emergency Warning - Bushfire - Leave Immediately for Mafeking, Watgania.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) December 20, 2024
More details at https://t.co/RP7QseKkhB...
Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous.
Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay. pic.twitter.com/X58zcXD08U
The fire, which on Friday was threatening both homes and lives, is burning near Woodland Close.
As the blaze spread eastward, the suburb of Loch was added to the emergency warning zone.
Authorities issued a warning that it was “too late to leave the area safely, so you must take shelter now”.
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