Bushfires: ACT declares state of emergency, NSW braces for heatwave

Bushfires are ravaging parts of Victoria’s east, southern NSW and the ACT.

Bushfires are ravaging parts of Victoria’s already devastated east but rain has come to the state’s west.

Fire warnings have been issued for blazes across the state with the highest alert level activated for an out-of-control bushfire west of Bonang, in East Gippsland.

Several other ‘‘watch and act’’ warnings are also in place across the east and northeast, including Bendoc, Bendoc Upper, Bendoc North, Marlo and Tabbara. Residents are urged to remain vigilant and monitor the weather conditions.

Western and southern parts of the state were in for a soaking on Saturday off the back of a humid night.

“When it comes to the weather, it is really a tale of two states,” Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters on Saturday afternoon.

Damaging winds and heavy rainfall were likely in parts of the state’s north and central areas, with an emergency thunderstorm warning due to a destructive storm near Seymour.

“While we have seen some terrific rainfall over Victoria … there is the risk of some isolated falls that will be heavy and dangerous,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Peter Otto said.

Heavy rain hit parts of the Wimmera, with Nhill recording 61mm by 9am on Saturday, Dimbola 51mm, Longerenong 42mm and Horsham 40mm.

It came after an oppressive night with the humidity in Melbourne and Victoria earlier on Saturday comparable to Darwin and Singapore, Mr Otto said. At least 10 fires were active in Victoria but the heavy rain was expected to miss them.

“In the east it is dry, that is what was forecast and we might only see five to 10mm of rain,” Mr Crisp said.

The State Emergency Service has received more than 700 requests for help in the past 24 hours, largely for trees fallen on cars and across roads. Victoria faced its highest demand for electricity in more than five years amid high temperatures on Friday, with the Australian Energy Market Operator activating emergency reserves.

More than 50,000 homes lost power during the peak of the energy shortage on Friday night, with about 3000 properties still offline, Mr Crisp said about 3.30pm on Saturday.

Dangerous fire conditions are being experienced across south-eastern NSW. There are numerous fires at Emergency Warning level. These fires are creating their own weather and are spreading quickly. Stay up to date with warnings in your area. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/A1lcUJloPO

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) February 1, 2020

Further north, five emergency warnings were in place for fires in NSW. They were for the Clear Range fire at Bredo, Michelago and Colinton, the Big Jack Mountain and Postmans Trails fires in the Bega Valley, the Border fire along the NSW-Victorian border and the Creewah Road fire at Glen Allen.

People in the NSW far south coast area near Tantawangalo were warned to seek shelter in a solid structure on Saturday afternoon as the 6000-hectare Glen Allen fire and two smaller blazes all reached emergency levels.

“Wear protective clothing and footwear. Cover all exposed skin,” an NSW RFS warning reads.

Further south, the long-burning Border fire also flared and spread quickly on its northern flanks near Burragate.

The Monaro Highway remains closed near the ACT border where the Clear Range fire is threatening homes at Michelago.

That blaze was created from embers that moved kilometres from the ACT’s large Orroral Valley fire.

Unprepared people in Michelago were urged to evacuate to Canberra, while unprepared people in Colinton should go to Cooma.

Meanwhile, southern ACT residents have been warned they could face spotfires in the coming hours as the Orroral Valley Bushfire is upgraded to emergency level. The fire is just 2km from the village of Tharwa and 7kms from Canberra’s southern suburbs, emergency services say.

The fire has now burned 35,000 hectares.

“This is going to be a stressful day for residents,” ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr told reporters on Saturday.

ACT Emergency Services Agency Georgina Whelan says residents must remain alert to changing conditions.

Firefighters and aircraft are working hard to slow the fire near Bredbo. Conditions are very challenging. #nswrfs #nswfires https://t.co/OjkSAmSYYC

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) February 1, 2020

“The conditions will potentially become more dangerous and the fire may pose a threat to lives directly in its path,” she told reporters in Canberra. “Our residents can expect to see spot fires in the coming hours.”

The fire is travelling at 1.5 to two kilometres per hour in a south easterly direction with spotting up to 10 km ahead and is likely to enter NSW jurisdictions.

However, it is also slowly travelling north and against the wind. The commissioner said people in the Tharwa and the ACT southern suburbs of Banks, Gordon and Conder and surrounding areas to monitor conditions closely and be ready to act should a warning be issued.

“However, no properties are under immediate threat in our southern suburbs at this time,” she said.

Doorknocking by emergency services in the ACT’s western suburbs is also being undertaken as a precautionary measure, because the northern flank of the fire is still active.

“We have a number of containment lines in place, however if they are breached the fire could continue up to the west of the ACT suburban borders,” the commissioner said.

Wind changes could also see the whole of the ACT enveloped in smoke, similar to what happened after Christmas, from neighbouring fires burning in NSW. The Orroral Valley Bushfire has burned some 33,500 hectares so far or 15 per cent of the ACT.

Mr Barr said a huge amount of work has gone into protecting lives and property and he thanked the Australian Defence Force for their assistance in building containment lines.

But he again urged people to stay away from the area, saying visitors are just “getting in the way”.

“It is incredible disappointing that a number of people had to be told to leave the area last night by ACT police,” he said.

Mr Barr said the state of emergency is expected to remain until at least Monday. The weather forecast for the ACT is for 40 degree-plus heat and gusty winds on Saturday, which the Bureau of Meteorology’s Dean Sgarbossa says along with gusty winds and dry conditions “will drive fire dangers into the severe area”. However, he told ABC television humidity will increase throughout the day which will cap fire dangers heading into Sunday.

The bushfire conditions forecast for Saturday are being compared to those experienced in 2003, when four people died and hundreds of Canberra homes were razed.

ACT Emergency Services Agency map shows a “worst case” scenario on Saturday. Picture: ACT ESA.

Authorities said forced evacuations were likely to occur after a prediction map showed the 28,000 hectare blaze was less than nine kilometres from the capital’s southern outskirts.

“We could see suburbs such as Conder, Banks and Gordon come under ember attack,” said ACT Emergency Services Agency Commissioner, Georgeina Whelan. Authorities expect the fire to cross over into NSW on Friday night or Saturday morning, where it will be known as the Clear Range Fire and managed in part by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.

A “textbook” combination of dangerous fire conditions were forecast for Saturday, Ms Whelan said.

“It has been unpredictable. It remains challenging. It is difficult to access. This fire could create its own weather system.

“If all of what I have just outlined occurs, there is a chance this fire could break containment lines.”

A bushfire is seen burning south near the town of Tharwa, 30km south of Canberra. Picture: AAP

Temperatures are expected this weekend to reach the mid-40s across parts of NSW, the ACT, and Victoria, with the mercury in western Sydney expected to climb to 42C.

A brutal heatwave will push the mercury to 45C in Penrith, 44C in Richmond, 34C in the CBD, and 43C in the fire-ravaged region of Bega.

Greater Sydney, meanwhile, is expected to bear the brunt of wild weather on Sunday evening, with a thunderstorm expected to deliver a short reprieve from the searing temperatures.

State of Emergency declared for ACT: it is imperative that everyone is prepared, even if you are not in an area of immediate danger. Find out more at: https://t.co/mKH0yseZ8p #stateofemergency #ACTESA #Canberra

— ACT ESA (@ACT_ESA) January 31, 2020

The areas of most concern are the central-eastern parts, around the Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong.

In the south of the state, the NSW RFS is predicting that the Big Jack Mountain Fire and the Creewah Road Fire will join, threatening the nearby town of Bombala.

Two fires continue to burn near Bombala in the states south east. The Big Jack Mountain Fire is burning close to property near Mt Darragh, while the Creewah Rd Fire is burning just north of Cathcart. The two fires will likely join tomorrow. #NSWRFS pic.twitter.com/f7jQ8jrLab

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 31, 2020

Air quality is expected to plunge to hazardous levels in Canberra over the weekend as strong winds blow bushfire smoke across the ACT and over parts of the NSW south coast.

Blaze may threaten homes in NSW

Properties could come under threat as dangerous bushfire conditions return to southern NSW, fanned by gusty winds and soaring temperatures. The NSW Rural Fire Service has declared total fire bans on Saturday for the southern slopes, southern ranges, far south coast, Monaro alpine and Illawarra/Shoalhaven regions.

A “severe” fire danger rating is in place for each of those areas. “Under these conditions, a number of fires will spread and may threaten properties,” the RFS said.

“Embers may be blown ahead of fires and could start spot fires.” Bureau of Meteorology acting NSW manager Jane Golding says high temperatures coupled with strong winds will create very high fire danger. “With the heat comes the fires,” Ms Golding told reporters in Sydney on Friday. The RFS said heatwave conditions are expected to be at their worst on Saturday. “Tomorrow will be the peak of the heatwave in NSW with some areas expected to reach extreme heatwave conditions,” the RFS said.

“Thunderstorms, which have the potential to start new fires, are forecast for a large portion of NSW.” A 28,000-hectare bushfire burning in the ACT is expected to jump into NSW on Saturday morning.

On Friday evening there were 62 bush and grass fires burning across the state, with 41 of those uncontained.

More than 1800 firefighters are on the front line as authorities rush to prepare for the deteriorating conditions.

Mercury soars in Victoria

In Victoria, scorching temperatures and rising humidity will push the state’s electricity grid to the brink, after it nudged breaking point on Friday evening for the second day in a row.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said Melbourne would feel “more like Darwin,” with the humidity expected to reach 77 per cent.

“It will be very tropical for those waking up in Melbourne and large parts of Victoria,” he said. “We’ll see storms move through (and) there’s a risk of heavy rainfall, flash flooding, and large hail at the weekend.”

About 15mm of rainfall will make its way to the fire-ravaged East Gippsland region over the weekend, while Melbourne could get up to 40mm of rain, Mr How said.

Despite the humidity two fires were burning at emergency level on Friday night, with fires near Bendoc and Cape Conran-Marlo endangering lives and homes.

Victorian Emergency Services advised people in the Cape Conran and Marlo areas to leave while they still can, while the Bendoc fire was downgraded to a watch-an-act later on Friday evening.

This EMERGENCY WARNING is being issued for Bendoc, Bendoc Upper, Bendoc North.

More details at https://t.co/v3yOnDku58

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/CrnAkRzxlT

— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) January 31, 2020

This EMERGENCY WARNING is being issued for Cape Conran, Marlo and Marlo Plains. Leaving now is the safest option before conditions become too dangerous.

Continue to monitor this warning via https://t.co/mDvQTvi7dD pic.twitter.com/rwVUTo9AtN

— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) January 31, 2020

Friday was the first day on record that Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart all reached a temperature in excess of 40C on the same day.

On Friday evening, 1600 firefighters were tackling 54 fires in NSW, while 10 were burning Victoria.

In Tasmania, meanwhile, a bushfire at Winkleigh in the state’s north was briefly upgraded to an emergency level just after 3pm on Friday.

In South Australia, power was cut to almost 10,000 properties on Friday evening, as heavy rain and thunderstorms lashed Adelaide and left parts of Port Lincoln underwater.

With AAP