By Lachlan Abbott
Campgrounds have been evacuated in the Grampians as an out-of-control bushfire damages private property.
An emergency alert was issued for the tiny hamlet of Mirranatwa in the Victoria Valley shortly after 4pm on Wednesday as the fire continued to move north-west through dense bushland.
A photo of the Mirranatwa fire taken on Wednesday.Credit: VicEmergency
“Private property in the Mirrantwa area is being impacted and will continue to be impacted over the next three hours,” the alert said.
“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous.”
Grampians Road – the main southern gateway to the popular tourist town of Halls Gap – is now closed. A relief centre has been set up on Sterling Place in Dunkeld.
A State Control Centre spokesperson said 198 firefighters and three water-bombing aircraft were battling the blaze, which has burnt 4500 hectares so far.
The Age has spoken to one camper who was told to leave Borough Huts Campground, south of Lake Bellfield and Silverband Road.
Only 31 people live in Mirranatwa, according to the last census. The tiny town is mainly farmland nestled between the Victoria Range and the Mount William Range.
An updated emergency warning, issued shortly before 8pm, included farms near Big Cord, Grampians, and Jimmy Creek in the alert zone.
“[The] fire is crossing Henham Track near the Victoria Valley Road,” it said.
Aerial images of a bushfire in the Grampians on Tuesday.Credit: VicEmergency
On Monday, the state’s hottest day of the year put firefighters on high alert.
An emergency warning was briefly issued for blaze that broke out south of Creswick – a small town about 20 kilometres north of Ballarat – but that was downgraded as night fell.
Other fires sprang up in the Grampians National Park but burnt in remote bushland and did not trigger a prolonged emergency alert.
However, one fire in the southern Grampians near Yarram Gap Road continued to burn, and triggered new warnings on Wednesday.
A watch-and-act warning for bushland east of Grampians Road was downgraded to an advice message late on Wednesday.
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