‘Too late to leave’: residents told to seek shelter as bushfire threatens Victorian town
An out-of-control bushfire is threatening the town of Dimboola in Victoria’s west, with residents told to seek shelter as it is too late to leave.
An out of control bushfire is threatening the town of Dimboola in Victoria’s west, with residents being told to seek shelter and that it is too late to leave.
Dry lightening strikes ignited a number of small fires in the nearby Little Desert National Park, about 340km west of Melbourne, on Monday.
Firefighters continued to battle the large blaze overnight and on Tuesday morning, after 40 degree conditions and strong winds on Monday afternoon caused the fires to spread and merge to one large fire.
On Tuesday morning, the bushfire was travelling from Little Desert in an easterly direction and impacting the town of Dimboola, which recorded a population of 1635 people in the 2021 census.
An emergency warning to evacuate was issued for those in Dimboola and Wail on Monday evening, with about 2700 people receiving a phone alert at about 6.30pm.
An emergency warning to shelter was in place as of Tuesday morning.
“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive,” the VicEmergency warning read.
“The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.
“If you have not already left, the time to safely evacuate has now passed. Take shelter indoors and monitor conditions. It is too dangerous to leave.”
Those in Little Desert National Park and surrounding areas including Lawloit, Kinimakatka, Winiam, Gerang Gerung, Dimboola west of the Wimmera River, Duchembegarra and Nurcoung have been issued a watch and act warning and advised to monitor conditions.
Luke Heagerty from the State Control Centre said there had been no reports of property damage or injuries, and that firefighters had so far been able to extinguish fires before they reached the private land neighbouring the Little Desert National Park.
Mr Heagerty said he hoped the warning level would reduce during the day but that crews would need to do more work first to ensure there were no further outbreaks that would threaten Dimboola.
It’s a very large fire, and obviously all it needs is a bit of wind to get a moving again,” he said.
The Little Desert National Park fire has grown to about 63,000 hectares in size over a period of less than 24 hours.
A fire that occurred in the Grampians earlier this summer grew to about 76,000 hectares over a period of three weeks.
Meanwhile, in the Grampians National Park, firefighters are battling two fire fronts, which are mainly in the areas of the park that weren’t affected by the blaze that occurred before Christmas.
Several watch and act warnings are in place for the area, while an out-of-control bushfire at Victoria Valley has prompted an emergency warning for people in Strachans, Victoria Point and Victoria Valley to evacuate.
“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous,” the VicEmergency warning reads.
“Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay.”
The Victoria Valley bushfire started near Bullawin Road and is travelling in a northerly direction towards Strachans.
Mr Heagerty said there were no reports of damaged property or injuries as a result of the Grampians bushfires as yet.
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