Bushfire emergency: Victoria death toll rises, homes lost at 300 but will rise, authorities warn
The death toll from Victoria’s bushfires has risen, as hundreds of stranded holidaymakers are recued from Mallacoota.
- Victoria death toll rises
- Hazard reduction ‘not a panacea’
- Prince’s emotional message
- PM to visit SA
- Barnaby Joyce on fuel loads
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has visited fire-ravaged Kangaroo Island as fire crews across the nation continue to get on top of blazes ahead of a return to extreme conditions later in the week. In NSW, a total fire ban is in place on Wednesday for the southern slopes, one of three districts west of the Great Diving Range with very high fire danger forecast. More showers are possible across parts of the south coast. In Victoria, fire danger ratings will remain at low levels in East Gippsland and will rise to very high in the northeast, as temperatures increase slightly ahead of forecast spike days on Thursday and Friday.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 10.34pm: Emergency warning for WA town
The Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services has issued an emergency warning for the town of Toodyay, 80km north-east of Perth.
The Department is claiming that people in the area bordered by Sandplain Road, Harvester Drive and Folewood Road in the southern parts of Toodyay are in immediate danger from a fire and need to leave now.
The fire started late this afternoon and is currently being attended by firefighters.
The town of 1400 was last hit by significant bushfires in 2009 when high temperatures and collapsed power lines sparked bushfires that destroyed 38 homes and burnt through more than 3000 hectares of forest.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 7.52pm: Kangaroo Island residents told to evacuate
The South Australian Country Fire Service has urged residents in the Kangaroo Island town of Vivonne Bay to evacuate now due to fears that high fuel loads and poor defendability could see existing fires hit the town on Thursday.
The CFS has stated that re-entry to Vivonne Bay will not be permitted until Friday January 10 or until conditions are deemed safe.
“Efforts in the past week have focused on securing the eastern fire edge, putting out hotspots and mopping up in preparation for the deteriorating fire weather,” said the CFS.
“Progress has been made, however there are still areas of major concern and a real risk of outbreaks threatening communities tomorrow.”
“The highest fire danger will be in an area west of a line from Smith Bay on the north coast to Vivonne Bay on the south coast.”
People in the area are being advised to say in and around the towns of Kingscote and Penneshaw on Thursday, with Kangaroo Island council providing free camping and caravanning facilities on the ovals of both towns.
The order comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Kangaroo Island earlier in the day to survey the damage wrecked last weekend by vicious bushfires.
At least 56 homes have been destroyed on Kangaroo Island and two people have been killed.
Remy Varga 7.46pm: Hundreds rescued in Mallacoota
Hundreds of holidaymakers stranded in the Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota have been rescued.
The HMAS Choules delivered 205 evacuees and 66 CFA firefighters to a naval base in the Mornington Peninsula on Wednesday night.
Bradley Moore, 46, who hails from Sydney’s Bondi Beach, has been holidaying in the Victorian coastal town for about 13 years.
He said when the sky turned red on New Year’s Eve it was like “Armageddon.”
“We got there Boxing Day and pretty much got burnt out a few days later,” he said.
“The whole camping area got pretty much wiped out.”
Mallacoota came to represent the horror and devastation of the bushfire season after images and vision of 4000 people stranded on a beach beneath a blood red sky made headlines.
Jess Steinfort was among the crowds on the beach with her dad John and her dog buddy when the fires came.
“It felt like a bit of a blur when we were there, all those skies.”
John Steinfort said the community spirit in the town was incredible but there were still challenges facing the people who remained behind.
“It’s pretty difficult, it’s really smoky still,” he said
“It’s a lot of waiting for the roads to reopen and that’s where people are sort of sitting at the moment.
A further 142 people left behind and wanting to leave will be flown out when weather conditions allow.
Lachlan Moffet Gray 6.30pm: Retailers pledge 100 per cent of profits
Almost 50 of Australia’s leading retailers have pledged to donate 100 per cent of all profit made tomorrow to the Red Cross’s Bushfire Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.
The decision was pioneered by clothing retailer General Pants Co., whose CEO Sacha Laing rounded up support from big-name brands such as Ben Sherman, Lacoste, Levi’s, Speedo, The North Face and Afterpay.
“We put an open invitation out for brands to join us and the response was overwhelming,” said Mr Liang.
“I hope we’ve created interest and awareness and I hope tomorrow consumers come and support the initiative.”
A list of all the participating brands can be found here.
Meanwhile the Paul Ramsay Foundation has pledged $30 million to support communities affected by the bushfires.
$3 million will be donated immediately with the Red Cross, the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal and St Vincent de Paul to receive $1 million each for current relief efforts.
The remaining $27 million will be allocated over the next 12 to 18 months in consultation with government agencies, charities and affected communities.
“We are in this together,” said Paul Ramsay Foundation CEO Professor Glyn Davis.
“The foundation is acutely aware that it is those already vulnerable to entrenched disadvantage who will be hardest hit by the consequences of the current bushfires,” he said.
Rachel Baxendale 5.26pm: Late firie ‘such a well-loved guy’
Forest Fire Management Victoria chief Chris Hardman said late firefighter Matt Kavanagh had extinguished seven unattended campfires the day he died.
Mr Kavanagh had been on duty when he and a colleague were involved in a crash on the Goulburn Valley Highway on Friday.
“Matt was working on fire prevention work,” Mr Hardman said.
“Right across the state every day, we’ve got people out in the bush dealing with unattended campfires, dealing with new ignitions, doing first attack on bushfires, so what Matt was doing was dealing with that fire prevention work, and on that day had extinguished seven unattended campfires.
“Unattended campfires can turn into bushfires or have turned into bushfires in the past, so he was doing critically important work stopping new fires in the environment, and we have 2,800 people doing that every day right across the state.”
Mr Hardman said Mr Kavanagh had worked at FFMV for ten years, working as part of the summer fire crew before moving to north east Victoria to be based at the Mansfield, Toolangi and most recently the Alexandra office.
“He was a Melbourne boy and had a great love of the great outdoors and (was) a keen fisherman and he started with us as a project firefighter, one of our summer fire crew, and decided to go and live in the north east of Victoria,” Mr Hardman said.
“He’s such a well-loved guy.”
“He’s done so many different roles for us as a firefighter, but as a road management officer and most recently working in a natural environment programs area.
“It’s a devastating loss for everybody in the sector, but for those people that knew Matt, it’s going to take a long time.
“I can’t imagine what their family is going through and what Matt’s colleagues are going through. It’s just such a very sad day.”
Rachel Baxendale 4.45pm: ‘Get out while you can’
Victorian Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville asked Victorians to leave areas at risk from fire ahead of deteriorating conditions on Thursday and Friday.
“We will see conditions of extreme and severe, particularly in the north country and north-east of Victoria ... where we have going fires at the moment, and very high in East Gippsland,” she said.
Ms Neville said fire-affected areas would be more humid than last week.
“This absolutely makes a difference to the forest fire danger index, and that’s why today they are very similar to conditions that we experienced Sunday a week ago, and that’s why the message is the same as we issued then, that is people should leave those fire-impacted areas,” she said.
“The safest place to be is outside those areas and to be in built-up areas.
“For those who aren’t choosing to leave, again the message is absolutely follow the warnings, follow the advice, sit on your Vic Emergency app, follow your local radio stations, get the most up-to-date information.”
The minister said dry lightning forecast on Friday also posed the risk of new fires.
Rachel Baxendale 4.30pm: Evacuees are out
Victorian Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said everyone who had registered to evacuate from Mallacoota, in far east Gippsland, had now done so.
“Just note that people are continuing to re-assess their situation and we will continue to do that, but everyone who has registered to leave has been able to leave, either through the air, a small number through the air, or the large number through the ship,” Ms Neville said.
Navy vessel HMAS Choules is due to arrive at Cerberus, on the Mornington Peninsula, this afternoon, with 300 evacuees on board.
The evacuation will mark the completion of joint Police and ADF Operation Genesis, which has seen almost 1500 people evacuated from fire-ravaged communities over the past week – the largest maritime evacuation in Australian history.
Ms Neville said emergency services personnel, including those from the CFA, police, SES and Red Cross volunteers had also left Mallacoota on HMAS Choules as part of shift changes, with air evacuation prevented due to smoke.
Rachel Baxendale 4pm: Death toll rises in Victoria
The death toll from Victoria’s bushfires has risen to three, following a police investigation into a two-car collision in the Goulburn Valley central Victoria which killed Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighter Matt Kavanagh.
Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said Mr Kavanagh had been on duty when he and a colleague were involved in the crash on the Goulburn Valley Highway on Friday.
“Tragically the 43-year-old couldn’t be revived and died at the scene, while his colleague was taken to hospital in a stable condition and has since been released,” Ms Neville said.
“Our thoughts are with Matt’s colleagues and family, including his wife and children: Jude his wife, Reuben and Kate, his children.
“This news has come as a huge shock to the entire emergency management community in the midst of ongoing fire.
“Matt was a dedicated and respected member of Forest Fire Management Victoria for around 10 years, and was on duty as part of our fire response on the day.”
I won’t be posting pix of 80 houses lost out of respect to the owners but Mallacoota has been hit hard & public infrastructure like this lookout need to be rebuilt as soon as it’s safe to get economy moving again. Lot of work ahead of us but locals in good spirits. #lovegippsland pic.twitter.com/zNSEQwc6u7
— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) January 8, 2020
Mr Kavanagh was awarded a National Emergency Medal in 2016 for his work fighting the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.
“He’s being remembered for his friendly and welcoming nature, his passion for the environment and nature, and his love of fly fishing,” Ms Neville said.
“I want to pass on my condolences to Jude and their children, and also to the Forest Fire Management and DELWP family.
“I know that they are all grieving at the moment.
“Can I pass on my condolences as Minister, but also on behalf of the government, and I’m sure the Victorian community, and also to thank Matt and his family for the contribution and sacrifice that they made for the Victorian community.”
More than 300 homes have so far been confirmed in Victoria’s fires, however, the number is expected to rise, with assessments continuing in previously inaccessible areas.
“We are still looking at those figures, as well as a number of other outbuildings, so that 300 relates to homes, that figure will be higher in relation to other property and buildings,” Ms Neville said.
Claire Bickers 1pm: PM tours Kangaroo Island
Farmers have told Scott Morrison horror stories of the sky turning black and flames bearing down on their homes as he visited bushfire ravaged Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Simon Kelly, 53, watched from his kitchen window as the shearing shed his grandfather had built after WWII caught fire just 30 metres away and burnt to the ground last week. Sprinklers on the home he has lived in his whole life was the only way it survived the ember attack. Mr Kelly spoke to the PM on his property this morning, and welcomed the $15,000 in grants the federal and state government will make available for fire-affected farmers.
“Every little thing helps,” he said, but added that other members of the community also needed help to rebuild. “I’ve got a good mate whose lost his house — they’re not farmers, that’s everything to them,” he said.
Mr Morrison received a warm reception from the locals. He visited the bushfire devastated island today despite learning on a flight to SA this morning Iran had attacked US forces in Iraq.
Simon’s mother Janice Kelly, 79, told the Prime Minister to deploy financial advisers to help bushfire-affected communities with paperwork as they attempt to rebuild. Tourism operators also asked Mr Morrison to send a message to the world to urge international tourists to keep coming to KI and other tourist hotspots hit by the bushfires this summer.
Local operator Chris Schumann showed the PM a manila folder of all the cancellations he had received already — some for months away in April and May. “There’s no reason for people to cancel then,” he said. “What I’m saying is, don’t abandon us — we need your business. And ScoMo just said to me . somewhere I’m going to do a press conference and say hey, if you’re asking for a refund from a small business doing accommodation or a tour operator for $500, give ‘Em a break and suck it up.” — The Advertiser
Rachel Baxendale 12pm: ‘Not time for blame game’
The Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has highlighted long-running calls from Gippsland locals for better forest management, including more hazard reduction burns. Mr Chester said now was not the time for a “blame game” with fires still active and communities vulnerable, but that he wanted to assure locals he was thinking about long term recovery and policy reforms. The Veterans Affairs Minister made the following points in a Facebook post:
“1. These fires started on PUBLIC land and have impacted lives and PRIVATE property across our entire region, causing major social, economic and environmental losses.
2. The locals have campaigned for better forest management, including more hazard reduction burns and better protection of communities for decades.
3. Progressive cuts to the timber industry and grazing have locked up more forests (which have then been subjected to the same under resourced neglect by the state government) and diminished our local workforce capacity to respond to fires.
4. Finally, the recovery is going to take several years and require a massive amount of state and federal funding. Once the cameras are gone, I’m going to make sure the politicians who have visited in this disaster, actually put their money where their mouths are and support our region’s redevelopment. They don’t get to turn up for a photo opportunity and then forget about us.”
Mr Chester said East Gippsland had a “long way to go yet”, and there would be tough times.
“As a region, we need to keep supporting each other and stick together. Thank you to everyone for your amazing efforts to far,” he said. I’m relentlessly positive and optimistic about the future because we are a resilient and determined community. I will be doing everything I can to ensure we see some practical changes to the way the bush is managed with a balanced approach to protect local communities, sustain local jobs and support biodiversity. And I will be working with local and state representatives to put forward sensible and considered plans to build the social and economic future of East Gippsland.”
11.30am: Hazard reduction ‘not a panacea’
The boss of the NSW Rural Fire Service says hazard reduction is important but not a panacea for bushfire risk and has “very little effect at all” on the spread of fire in severe or extreme weather. Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons on Wednesday addressed the organisation’s hazard reduction activities as bushfires fuel debate over preparation for the NSW fire season.
Federal Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told the Seven Network that “green caveats” were hampering firefighting capacity.
But Mr Fitzsimmons said hazard reduction burning was challenging and the biggest impediment to completing burns was weather. He said there was a “shrinking window of opportunity” for more favourable burning periods as fire seasons lengthened.
“Hazard reduction is absolutely an important factor when it comes to fire management and managing fire in the landscape but it is not the panacea,” Mr Fitzsimmons told ABC News on Wednesday. “When you’re running fires under severe, extreme or worse conditions, hazard reduction has very little effect at all on fire spread.
NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has dismissed Barnaby Joyce's claim that 'green caveats' stopped hazard reduction burns, leading to the bushfire crisis #AustraliaisBurning #AustralianBushfiresDisaster pic.twitter.com/4omWS0mcuE
— SBS News (@SBSNews) January 7, 2020
“It’s only when the conditions back off a bit ... that you’ve actually got some prospect of slowing the fire spread.” Mr Fitzsimmons said the RFS was now achieving up to 90 per cent of its annual burn program.
NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean earlier this week said this season’s fires showed more hazard reduction was needed, but wasn’t a silver bullet. Mr Kean said a NSW government review after the conclusion of the bushfire season would consider fire management issues.
Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre chief executive Richard Thornton on Tuesday said hazard reduction was part of the whole picture. “With climate change we know that the fire seasons are starting earlier, they’re finishing later. The cumulative fire danger during a fire season is higher,” he said.
“We know that means that we’ll get more of these types of weather events that we’ve seen over the last few months ... so we need to consider every part of the whole fire management process.” — AAP
MORE: Read more on hazard reduction here.
Rachel Baxendale 11am: Vic smoke to clear
Smoke is forecast to clear in far north east Victoria’s fire-ravaged upper Murray region this afternoon, enabling air access to towns which have been cut off from road access for days. Wodonga Incident Control Centre spokeswoman Mel Douglas said residents had gained road access to Corryong late on Monday. “That’s the only fire-affected town that’s opened up, because we’ve had no air capability with the smoke,” Ms Douglas said. She said air access to other communities was looking “promising” on Wednesday afternoon. “That will enable us to do a heap things, including assessing property losses, helping to fight the fire, helping to plan for coming days, getting supplies in,” Ms Douglas said.
She said fire crews were planning for hot weather on Friday, with 41C forecast for Albury-Wodonga. “Today is the big day for us to work out where we’re going to put people on Friday for the best asset protection,” she said. “It will be all about asset protection, because conditions will probably be too poor to actually be fighting the fire.” Extensive property and stock losses have already occurred in the area, with homes lost in communities including Towong, Tintaldra, Walwa, Cudgewa and Cudgewa North.
Angelica Snowden 10.15am: British Parliament’s message
British parliament has sent a message of solidarity to their Australian colleagues. Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle commended Australians for their endurance in a statement to the House of Commons. “On behalf of the house I wish to express my deepest sympathies to the people of Australia as they continue to experience horrific wildfires,” Sir Lindsay said. “We pay tribute to the fire fighters and all those who are putting their lives at risk.”
Sir Lindsay also confirmed that there would be a special session in the House of Commons on Thursday to discuss the bushfires after a call to Australian Speaker Tony Smith. “The magnitude of the disaster unfolding in Australia should shock us all because of the human and animal lives that have been destroyed.” Sir Lindsay said. “This is a wake-up call for the world.”
9.45am: Dry conditions hinder Qld bushfire prep
The Queensland government says dry conditions have severely reduced opportunities for hazard reduction burns over the past two years. A “very active early bushfire season” ended fire mitigation operations early in 2018, says Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford. More than 350 planned hazard reduction burns were not completed in the years from 2016 to 2019, Mr Crawford said in response to a written parliamentary question. He said the primary role of the state’s fire service was to provide professional advice and encourage landholders to undertake hazard reduction measures. But the primary responsibility for hazard reduction burns rested with landholders. “(Landholders) may decide weather conditions are unfavourable or dangerous, or that they need to preserve fodder for livestock,” Mr Crawford said. Other bushfire mitigation strategies included firebreak, fire trail maintenance and community education activities. Planned hazard reduction burns (and number completed in brackets) in Queensland: 2016 - 242 (122) 2017 - 225 (131) 2018 - 177 (69) 2019 - 168 (117). — AAP
Angelica Snowden 9.15am: Joyce on fuel load
Barnaby Joyce has blamed the intensity of the bushfire crisis on fuel load in an interview on Sunrise. “You always get fires, but it is the intensity of the fire because of the amount of the fuel load.” Mr Joyce said.
The member for New England told Samantha Armatyge that “we need to learn from this and be better next time”.
“Fuel reduction, access to water, keeping roads clear and making sure we don’t have tree clearing guidelines which basically make it impossible for people to take protective action that they need to.” Mr Joyce said.
"You always get fires but it's the intensity because of the amount of the fuel load that is catching on fire and we've got to get a better capacity to deal with this" – Nationals MP @Barnaby_Joyce speaking to Sunrise https://t.co/ozCxClUivF #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/v8ydFpqDko
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) January 7, 2020
Armatyge said that fire trails — that allow firefighters to safely access fires and contain them — had been closed down for environmental reasons prevented firefighters from accessing them to conduct proper backburning.
“Fire trails were shut down to save the environment, but now fireys can’t get in there to fight them and they are all overgrown to the point that this is now raging infernos,” Joyce agreed, adding there were too many barriers to firefighters to make proper use of fire trails.
“This is my view. There are too many caveats — let’s call them green caveats — that have been placed on people that impede their capacity to fight fires.” Joyce said. “You think every tree is sacred? Well not the ones that fall over roads and stop people from getting out and fire trucks from getting in.” he said.
Angelica Snowden 8.30am: Prince Charles sends message
The Prince of Wales has issued an emotional message on social media to Australians who have been affected by bushfires.
Princes Charles described the bushfires as “appalling infernos” that have now killed 24 people, destroyed almost 6 million hectares of land, devastated wildlife and annihilated more than 1600 homes.
Princes Charles said he and his wife Camilla had been in despair watching the destructive, deadly infernos burn, saying they are thinking of the Australian people in “such impossible and terrifying circumstances”.
“I fear this is a hopelessly inadequate way of trying to get a message to all of you that both my wife and myself are thinking of you so very much at such an incredibly difficult time and in such impossible and terrifying circumstances,” the prince said.
“But I did want to say that both of us have been in despair over the last several weeks watching this appalling horror unfolding in Australia and witnessing so much of what you’re having to go through, from this distance.”
A message from HRH The Prince of Wales to the people of Australia.
— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) January 7, 2020
For support and information about how to donate to the Australian bushfire relief efforts, visit https://t.co/fmO0PtSXGl @RedCrossAU pic.twitter.com/44Rg21VKbM
“But above all, we wanted to say how much we have been thinking of all those remarkable, courageous, determined firefighters, who have done so much and worked ceaselessly to exhaustion and we feel so deeply for the families of those who have been lost and have lost their lives in the course of carrying out their remarkable duties, as only they can do,” he said.
“We also think of all the Australian wildlife that is destroyed in these appalling infernos, let alone everything else.’’
In his message, tweeted by Clarence House, Prince Charles concluded by saying how “proud” he was of Australians and how “resilient” the Australian people are.
“I know, we both know, just how incredibly special and resilient the Australian people are, so I know at the end of the day despite all this horror, you will find a way to face it all and win through and all I can say is that we are thinking of you, we are praying for you in the most determined way.”
The Prince of Wales recorded a video message to bushfire victims from his home Birkhall in Scotland on Monday, which was uploaded to Clarence House’s Instagram and Twitter accounts and directed viewers to donate to the relief effort through the Red Cross.
8am: PM to visit SA
Farmers and small businesses hit by the Kangaroo Island and Adelaide Hills bushfires will be able to apply for grants of up to $15,000 through an $11 million funding package to help them rebuild.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Steven Marshall are expected to announce the grant when the PM visits South Australia on Wednesday. Both Mr Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will be in SA in the wake of the island blaze, which has claimed two lives, destroyed 56 homes, and burnt more than 160,000 hectares.
The Adelaide Hills fire destroyed more than 80 homes and more than 500 other buildings with significant losses of vineyards and other produce. Small businesses directly affected by fires can seek grants of up to $10,000 to help them recover, while primary producers who suffered in the blaze will get up to $15,000.
Meanwhile, deteriorating weather conditions on Kangaroo Island have authorities fearful of further flare-up from the devastating bushfire.
Temperatures will increase across the fire ground over the next two days with Thursday a day of particular concern as winds increase ahead of a cool change. — AAP
7.30am: Rain continues to fall
More showers are possible across parts of the NSW south coast on Wednesday after up to 3mm fell in parts of the Shoalhaven, and parts of the Bega Valley were sprinkled with 0.5mm on Tuesday. Those scattered showers and cooler conditions have been used to good effect by fire crews, Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said. Noting dangerous conditions were forecast for Friday, he said the fire grounds would “hopefully” be a little easier to manage after milder conditions. The massive Gospers Mountain fire north of Sydney could be contained by Friday, Mr Elliott said. “I think we have reached the peak,” he concluded. “The recovery will begin now.”
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