Bushfires: Thousands of victims still can’t return to their homes

Thousands of bushfire victims have been told it is unsafe to return to their homes because of fire-related hazards.

Thousands of bushfire victims remain stranded in relief centres and temporary accommodation across the southeast, told that it is unsafe to return to their homes because of fire-related hazards.

Victoria on Monday lifted an evacuation order to allow some people to return to their homes but many have been told their communities remain no-go zones.

Many who fled Corryong and surrounding towns in Victoria’s northeast had been hoping to return with a convoy headed to the fire-ravaged region on Tuesday, but it is understood they were told late on Monday that the trip was likely to be delayed.

Victorian Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville acknowledged people were anxious to return home but warned that some would have to wait until after the weekend, following the next spike of extreme weather. “I would want to be going back in and knowing what happened but the problem is we have active fire,” she said.

“We are trying as quickly as possible to make it safe for people to get in there.”

Firefighters took advantage of cooler weather, working to bolster containment lines around multiple fires, while police supported by the Australian Defence Force have been clearing roads and removing hazards that have isolated more than a dozen communities.

HMAS Choules, which at the weekend evacuated 1100 people from Mallacoota, has returned to the town, bringing heavy machinery and personnel to help with road and hazard clearing.

Ms Neville said it was highly probable evacuation orders would be reissued later in the week.

Some 31 fires are burning across Victoria and 18 communities are isolated. At least 200 properties are known to be damaged.

In NSW, 1482 homes, 100 facilities and 2339 outbuildings such as sheds have been confirmed destroyed since July. Areas thought to be hardest hit at the weekend included Bundanoon, Wingello, Batlow, Adelong, the Jervis Bay area, Boydtown, Kiah, Wonboyn, Towamba and Cabramurra.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was “absolutely no room for complacency”, with catastrophic conditions expected to return by Thursday.

The improved conditions have delayed plans for a possible mass evacuation of Eden by sea, with HMAS Adelaide standing by.

The border fire that has burned 271,000ha since igniting west of Mallacoota in Victoria has produced fierce smoke, and the town’s wood mill is still on fire.

Southwest of Myrtleford in northeast Victoria, seven local tankers with two strike teams were on Monday reinforcing containment lines on the Abbeyard fire’s northwestern flank. Whorouly CFA captain Dan Taylor said the small amount of rain would do little to extinguish the fire, which posed a risk to Cheshunt and Rose River.

Additional reporting: AAP