Firestorm bears down on Victorian holiday towns
Thousands of people in Victoria’s far east were bracing for a dangerous wind change early on Tuesday.
Thousands of people in Victoria’s far east were bracing for a dangerous wind change early on Tuesday, amid fears that fast-moving bushfires could open new fronts and increase the threat to homes and lives.
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Up to 30 out-of-control fires across East Gippsland were burning late into the night, with strong winds rapidly propelling blazes towards towns and coastal villages, including Bruthen and Lakes Entrance, where thousands of holidaymakers were trapped after defying earlier warnings to get out.
Large tracts of NSW, South Australia and Tasmania also remain in the grip of the bushfire crisis, with homes under threat in those states, ahead of worsening weather conditions this week.
A volunteer firefighter died on Monday and three others were injured when two trucks rolled at Jingellic, 70km east of Albury, in southeast NSW. The Rural Fire Service said the trucks were blown over by “extreme winds” while the men were battling the Green Valley fire. Two of those injured suffered burns.
Three NSW RFS volunteers have now lost their lives during the state’s fire crisis. Geoffrey Keaton, 32, and Andrew O’Dwyer, 36, were killed when their vehicle rolled off the road just southwest of Sydney in the week before Christmas.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described Monday’s death as “just heartbreaking”.
“A brave firefighter has lost their life protecting the community east of Albury,” she said. “Words fail at times like this.”
Late on Monday night residents in bushfire areas between Batemans Bay and Bega on the NSW south coast were advised to move to larger towns before 8am on Tuesday as strong winds exacerbate dangerous conditions.
In East Gippsland, firefighters were faced with walls of flames and plumes of smoke that soared as high as 12km as they sought to protect several rural hamlets and tourist towns.
Emergency warnings were issued for dozens of towns including Bruthen, Nowa Nowa, Wairewa, Orbost, Mallacoota and Lakes Entrance, which was under ember attack.
Fire authorities were particularly concerned about the out-of-control Marthavale-Barmouth Spur fire, which had created a large column that was collapsing above Colquhoun Forest to the north of Lakes Entrance, creating significant risk of spot fires on homes.
The same fire was also sending embers and creating spot fires north of Bairnsdale. Tourists fled the seaside town of Metung by early Monday, while Bruthen to the north was largely deserted by afternoon.
Just after 8pm on Monday, firefighters were “undertaking asset protection in private property” at Bruthen and Ramrod Creek, as the blaze was deemed to be threatening homes and lives.
An evacuation warning was also issued for Victoria’s northeast on Monday, due to a large fire 13km from Walwa that firefighters were unable to control.
Residents of Burrowye, Cudgewa, Cudgewa North, Guys Forest, Mount Alfred, Pine Mountain, Tintaldra, and Walwa were urged to leave.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews returned from holiday to attend a crisis briefing on Monday night. Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp warned that the worst was yet to come, with a dangerous wind change not expected to sweep fire grounds across Victoria until after midnight. That expected south-westerly change could potentially open a new fire front. “It is unpredictable; it’s dangerous out there,” he said.
Mr Crisp and Victorian Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville stressed that people needed to heed emergency warnings.
However, in Lakes Entrance tourists largely ignored Sunday’s official advice to leave.
East Gippsland Mayor John White visited the town early on Monday and said many people were angry. “They’re saying why would we stuff-up our holiday,” Mr White said. “While it’s unlikely that they would perish it was a request that they leave (and) that they didn’t follow.”
The Central Hotel and the Lakes Entrance RSL were busy at lunchtime, whereas at Metung, only a few locals remained, ready to jump into their boats and travel west to Paynesville if the fire got too close.
Metung Yacht Club commodore Peter Harvey said the club would usually be serving dinner to 50 or 60 patrons nightly over the Christmas-New Year break.
Asked whether warnings on Sunday for visitors to leave the East Gippsland region were excessive, Mr Harvey said authorities had given the instructions “in the best interests of the community”.
Sydney will be subject to severe fire danger on New Year’s Eve as areas to the south endure extreme fire forecasts. The Bureau of Meteorology said the city would experience severe fire danger on Tuesday, with strong dry winds and temperatures climbing to 33C. Parts of western Sydney would surpass 40C.
Communities in the path of several southern NSW fires were warned on Monday it was too late to leave. The largest blaze, at Charleys Forest, which has burnt 34,000ha east of Braidwood, was threatening homes west of Nerriga.
Tasmanian firefighters were battling several out-of-control fires on Monday, threatening homes as dry lightning strikes sparked more blazes, fuelled by gusty winds and extreme temperatures. The Tasmania Fire Service pulled crews out of several areas due to the volatile conditions, as temperatures soared past 40C and strong winds fanned bushfires in the state’s central highlands and southern midlands. Temperatures soared to 40.8C in Hobart and 41.9C at Friendly Beaches, on the east coast, ahead of a storm front with several bands of lightning.
The fire service said homes may have been destroyed in a bushfire at Pelham, in the central highlands, with about 20 homes potentially at risk, while the nearby town of Elderslie was warned it may also be placed at high risk.
Catastrophic conditions sparked more than 120 bushfires across South Australia but the state escaped without major losses. The Country Fire Service said watch-and-act warnings remained in place for several blazes.
Additional reporting: Matthew Denholm, AAP
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