Beaufort back in the line of fire amid Victoria’s catastrophic conditions

Residents of the western Victorian town of Beaufort have been advised to leave their homes as emergency services warn of catastrophic bushfire conditions forecast for Wednesday.

Fire and ember attacks are considered possible within an area of the state’s west that includes the town of almost 2000 people, which narrowly avoided serious property losses last week when the wind changed direction.

The small town of Lexton – 30 kilometres north-east of Beaufort and with a population of about 300 – is also in the firing line, as well as Amphitheatre, a little further north-west and with an official population of 223. Clunes, home to almost 2000 people near the major centre of Ballarat, is included on the eastern edge of the potential fire zone.

The Wimmera region’s fire danger rating has been upgraded from extreme to catastrophic, its worst fire weather in more than four years, authorities said, as a bushfire continues to burn out of control near the town of Bayindeen, about 40 kilometres west of Ballarat.

An emergency alert, urging recipients to leave before midday on Wednesday, was sent to about 30,000 phones and other devices within the Bayindeen fire’s potential impact zone, a State Control Centre spokeswoman said.

Extreme fire danger is also predicted for five of Victoria’s nine weather districts.

An unofficial local volunteer-led search for missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy has been postponed for this week because of the dangerous weather.

The Mallee is slated to reach the mid-40 degrees with winds of up to 45km/h on Wednesday, while other parts of Victoria are expected to creep into the 40s. Dry lightning is predicted in western and central parts of Victoria on Wednesday afternoon.

Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said a weather change following the heat would likely bring strong winds, bringing down trees and branches.

Nugent said the catastrophic conditions could result in the loss of homes, road closures and isolate communities.

“Essentially, half of our state is a high fire danger rating tomorrow,” he said.

Five fire trucks and more than 110 firefighters from NSW headed south on Tuesday to bolster Victoria’s emergency response. A larger air tanker and Black Hawk helicopter from NSW have also been made available.

Nugent said conditions had made it “extremely challenging” for firefighters to control the Bayindeen blaze, which has burnt more than 21,300 hectares since it started last Thursday.

“This fire has the potential to run again – to hit south initially with the northerlies, but then also swing around,” he said.

“If you live in a bushfire risk area, we are asking you to leave, and to leave early, either tonight or tomorrow morning.”

The temperature in Melbourne is forecast to reach 38 degrees on Wednesday, with north to north-easterly winds of up to 50km/h, shifting west to south-westerly in the late evening. There is a chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon.

Residents of some aged care facilities were evacuated this week and up to 100 schools and early learning childhood centres will be closed on Wednesday.

A total fire ban has been declared for much of the state, including the Wimmera, Mallee and central fire districts, which includes Melbourne and Geelong.

Five NSW strike teams are headed to Victoria ahead of catastrophic fire conditions forecasts for the Wimmera.Credit: NSW Rural Fire Service

CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said Wednesday’s conditions, along with ongoing bushfires, posed a significant risk.

Heffernan said the Bayindeen fire’s perimeter had reached nearly 200 kilometres on Tuesday.

Police, along with other agencies, were still investigating its cause, he said.

Heffernan said the last resort for people caught in the fires were Neighbourhood Safer Places and designated fire refuges.

“Fires will become very uncontrollable very quickly and no homes are designed to withstand those catastrophic conditions,” he said.

“So if your plan is to leave early, you are requested to do so this evening or by tomorrow morning. I would not leave any later than lunchtime because those weather conditions will become quite nasty from 12pm onwards.”

Premier Jacinta Allan said six residential houses and 10 outbuildings had been destroyed in western Victoria since Thursday, and that number could change.

“We do know this remains a very active fire, as a consequence, there remains that Not Safe to Return emergency alert out to the communities around Amphitheatre, Elmhurst and Mount Cole,” she said.

Allan said Wednesday’s catastrophic fire danger had been extended to Horsham, Stawell and Warracknabeal, and that district was now being notified to upgrade its preparations.

She said emergency services were closely monitoring conditions in south-western Victoria, including Colac and Warrnambool and through to the South Australia border.

That region is under an extreme fire danger alert but could be upgraded later on Tuesday, the premier said.

The watch-and-act warning is in place for residents of Amphitheatre, Bayindeen, Ben Nevis, Chute, Elmhurst, Eversley, Glenlogie, Mount Cole, Mount Lonarch and Raglan. Authorities advise it remains unsafe to return home.

CFA deputy chief Garry Cook said the conditions were all there on Wednesday to heighten the bushfire risk.

“The air mass is really dry, it’s got a strong northerly wind pulling all that hot [and] dry air down over Victoria, and then a blustery southwesterly change will come through late in the evening,” Cook said.

“Our job now is to – where we can – prevent anything from starting, and that’s [also] the community’s job.”

Crews were working day and night to consolidate a firebreak around the massive blaze but the steep landscape made it difficult to tackle, Cook said.

Fire has burnt through more than 20,000 hectares in the state’s west since it started on Thursday.Credit: David Crosling

The CFA did not expect to have the blaze under control by Wednesday, the deputy chief said.

Firefighters have worked hard to deepen the control line on the southern side of the Bayindeen fire in recent days, and NSW crews were to arrive on Tuesday to help.

“We will have a significant amount of resources deployed, both aircraft and ground crews, for Wednesday to there,” Cook said, adding that they were also preparing for new fires to break out.

“There is a potential ... for some lightning later in the afternoon or the evening as the change progresses across the state.

“We’re hoping that doesn’t occur, but if it does, it’s likely to be dry lightning.”

Crews were tracking weather conditions hourly with the Bureau of Meteorology, Cook said.

He warned Victorians against risking starting fires while the danger was so high, including by operating machinery in vegetation, mowing, welding or grinding.

“Our primary objective is to make sure we don’t lose any lives, and the community so far ... have been heeding the warnings,” Cook said. “We’ve got another really tough day to go, and we just ask the community to continue to do their bit.”

With Broede Carmody, Lachlan Abbott and AAP