Children rescued from Port Phillip Bay; winds fan Great Ocean Road fires as smoke wafts into Melbourne

Dozens of children were rescued from Port Phillip Bay on Sunday after blustery conditions capsized their sailboats.

Police said more than 60 people, mostly children, were part of a regatta that sailed from Williamstown before being hit by heavy winds.

Some of the children whose boats were capsized by the high winds on Sunday.Credit: Nine News

The children were stranded in the shipping channel just after 11.15am between Williamstown and Port Melbourne which forced the closure of the channel.

Police air wing and water police officers, the Life Saving Victoria rescue chopper and jet skis, as well as the St Kilda coast guard were all involved in the rescue.

Police said no injuries were reported and all the children were wearing lifejackets.

“The boat just blew over … we were just in the water, swimming around like at the beach,” a young boy told Nine News. “It [the wind] just went bang.”

Police said about 60 people had to be rescued.Credit: Nine News

Another of the young sailors said it was a scary experience.

“I had to go into Port Melbourne, on the other side of the bay – it was really scary,” the girl told Nine News.

Meanwhile, the gusty conditions also caused problems for firefighters battling a bushfire near the Great Ocean Road that had earlier sparked the evacuation of hikers, campers and nearby residents.

The blaze burnt through more than 700 hectares at Chapple Vale, a community about 60 kilometres northwest of Apollo Bay, while up to three homes have been destroyed in a separate fire near the South Australian border.

The blaze in the Otways near Gellibrand, in south-west Victoria, on Saturday.Credit: Nine

The bushfires meant many Victorians, including Melbourne residents, woke on Sunday to the smell of smoke, after more than 80 fires burnt across the state on Saturday. The air quality in Altona North, in Melbourne’s west, was rated “poor”.

By the afternoon, there were gale warnings for Port Phillip, Western Port and swathes of Gippsland. Residents along the southwest coast – including those near the Chapple Vale blaze – as well as the state’s northeast were told to brace for damaging winds overnight.

Firefighters were able to slow the spread of the Chapple Vale blaze by lunchtime on Sunday, but warned the situation could change at any time.

A watch-and-act alert on Sunday afternoon urged residents of Chapple Vale, Crowes, Gellibrand Lower, Johanna, Johanna Heights, Lavers Hill, Stalker, Wangerrip, Wattle Hill and Yuulong to leave their properties.

That alert remained in place for Yuulong residents when it was updated at 10pm on Sunday.

“Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay,” residents were told. “By choosing to stay, you and your family may be at risk of serious injury or death.”

Residents in Chapple Vale, Crowes, Lavers Hill, Wangerrip and Yuulong were told to stay informed and keep watch on the conditions and emergency services alerts.

Forest Fire Management Victoria acting chief officer Aaron Kennedy said parts of the Great Otway National Park were closed, including walking trails. Campers and 10 hikers were evacuated.

The Great Ocean Walk was open around lunchtime, but authorities said that could change. Hikers along the walk were earlier told to seek shelter in ploughed paddocks, football ovals, large bodies of water or inground pools.

“At the moment, the fire’s actually all within the national park – it hasn’t left public land – so we’re working really hard to keep it in there,” Kennedy said.

Smoke from the Gellibrand fire on Saturday afternoon.Credit: Nine

A community fire refuge has been set up at Otway CFA in Lavers Hill, about 15 kilometres from the coast.

State Control Centre spokesman Luke Heagerty said firefighter crews were facing challenges on the ground.

“It’s really about getting into some really difficult-to-access country. That’s a big ask for our crews – it can be slow and tough work,” Heagerty said.

“Getting them in there safely today and working on the containment of that fire is important for us.”

Firefighters hoped to take advantage of the increased moisture in the air on Sunday to make sure the fire was fully contained, Heagerty said. For residents, the safest option was to leave now because there was one major road in and out.

“The secondary part to that guidance is that we know that’s an area of the state that people travel to regularly as tourists, and so [we are] reinforcing that people should ideally be avoiding that area today until that situation changes,” he said.

Lightning and thunderstorms hit western Victoria on Sunday morning, and gusts of up to 90km/h were forecast for the south-west coast in evening.

Winds in the state’s west would persist through until Sunday night, Keris Arndt, of the Bureau of Meteorology, said.

“It is definitely concerning that we have seen lightning through that part of the state where we have obviously seen fire conditions already,” Arndt said.

“With the elevated westerly winds this afternoon, it is going to pose an impact.”

The Great Ocean Road was open on Sunday morning, but there were traffic management points in place.

A fire near Victoria’s border with South Australia meant residents of Chetwynd and Kadnook were warned it was not safe to return. A warning for nearby Connewirricoo was downgraded on Sunday.

Heagerty said given a change in weather conditions there, crews were working on Sunday to ensure the fire was fully contained, and to assess the damage.

More than 1250 hectares have burnt in Kadnook, and authorities have confirmed that one house was destroyed. Another two are believed to have been lost in that blaze.

A fire engulfed a privately owned blue gum plantation in Kadnook on Saturday and was still out of control late on Sunday afternoon.

Vic Emergency warned that strong winds were expected there through most of Sunday, while the fire’s southern section was in the Ganoo Ganoo Bushland Reserve west of the Chetwynd River.

Several other bushfire advice warnings remained in place in Victoria on Sunday.

Anyone with health concerns because of the smoke should seek medical advice, Vic Emergency said.

“People need to get their heads into the game that summer is here,” Heagerty said. “[They] need to have fire plans ready to go, and they need to be aware that things can change pretty quickly, particularly when things are as dry as they have been.”

Heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding were forecast for parts of north-east Victoria on Sunday, while the State Emergency Service fielded more than 70 calls for help from Shepparton residents.

Six-hourly rainfall totals of up 80 millimetres were forecast in the north-east, along with 24-hour totals of up to 100 millimetres with thunderstorms and damaging winds.

Mount Hotham recorded a wind gust of 148km/h about 10.30am on Sunday.

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