Western Victorian communities under threat as bushfires rage
Evacuation warnings have been issued as firefighters battle fast-moving blazes amid challenging conditions.
Out-of-control bushfires are threatening communities in Victoria’s west, with residents being urged to evacuate immediately as firefighting reinforcements from other states arrive.
Residents in the town of Mirranatwa, which is about 270km west of Melbourne, were warned to leave as a bushfire in the Grampians National Park raged in a southerly direction towards the area on Sunday afternoon.
“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous,” VicEmergency warned.
“Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay.”
Meanwhile, another out-of-control fire in the Little Desert National Park, about 340km west of Melbourne, was threatening a community to its south on Sunday afternoon, with residents of Nurcoung urged to evacuate immediately.
“Given the speed that it’s moving out of the park, there is the potential for it [the fire] to impact private properties in the area,” Luke Heagerty from the State Control Centre said.
Victoria welcomed about 120 interstate firefighters and incident management personnel from South Australia, ACT, NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory on the weekend to assist Victorian crews to battle the fires amid challenging conditions.
“We’re very grateful for their help and thanks to our interstate colleagues for their efforts,” a State Control Centre spokesperson said.
Warm nights and dry, hot weather, as well as the potential for dry lightning over the next couple of days were of concern for firefighters, Mr Heagerty said.
“Through to Tuesday it’s some pretty hot conditions,” he said.
“If we do see significant fire growth from these fires before Tuesday, or if we see other fires start over the next couple of days, Tuesday will be a critical day for us as the wind change moves through.”
Several watch and act warnings remained in place for other areas in and around the two national parks, with Mr Heagerty urging those in affected communities to stay up to date with warnings and to factor the heat into their fire safety plans.
“Whilst we know that everyone’s had these fires in their backyard for a week now, these are not the days to switch off,” he said.
“We want you to really be very aware that the fire risk is there and the heat risk is there as well.
“Because it will be so hot, you might want to change what you normally do with your fire plan. If you would normally stay, it might be worth considering moving.”
The blaze in Little Desert National Park was ignited by dry lightning strikes on Monday and destroyed two farm houses to the west of the town of Dimboola and wedding and accommodation venue Little Desert Nature Lodge last week.
The fire in the Grampians National Park, which also started on Monday, follows an earlier blaze which was ignited by lightning on December 17 and raged for nearly three weeks.
The Grampians fire in December burned through more than 76,000ha, destroyed four homes and killed hundreds of livestock.
There were no new reports of property damage or injuries as of Sunday afternoon.
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