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Heatwave: Melbourne, NSW, Tasmania reel as fires, heat, wind set in

An emergency warning in Gippsland has been downgraded to watch and act as a cool change hit after temperatures soared into the 40s.

Debbie Schipp and Remy Varga
5 min read
4:55PMJanuary 04, 2019.
Updated 9:12PMJanuary 04, 2019
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Smoke looms over Hobart form Tasmanian bushfires. Picture: Richard Jupe
Smoke looms over Hobart form Tasmanian bushfires. Picture: Richard Jupe

Hundreds of people have been evacuated in Tasmania as temperatures across three states soar into the 40s, while an emergency warning in Victoria’s Gippsland has been downgraded as a cool change hits.

VICTORIA

An emergency warning in Gippsland has been downgraded to watch and act as a cool change hit after temperatures soared into the 40s. Earlier, residents had been told it was too late to flee after the blaze, around 6km from the town of Rosedale, crossed Chessum Road and began moving towards moving towards Stradbroke.

Residents were told it was too late to flee and to seek shelter in their homes from the flames as well as ensuring all windows, doors and vents were shut to prevent the potentially lethal heat from coming into their properties.

Around 2000 people reside in the area the fire.

Around 80 firefighters are battling the blaze with the assistance of 12 aircrafts, including two air tankers and 18 trucks.

The fire is burning along the edges of the HVP plantation. A gas pipeline runs through the plantation.

Strong winds spread embers causing spot fires to break out and people trapped in the areas were told to close all doors, windows and vents to shield themselves from the extreme heat.

Emergency Victoria is reminding those under threat by the fire to bring pets inside as well covering themselves with clothing made of wool or cotton to protect against the heat.

People who cannot find shelter are being told to shelter in large open areas like a paddock or alternatively get into a large body of water like a dam or a lake.

Temperatures across Victoria have dropped around 20 degrees in the last couple of hours after the state saw temperatures in the mid forties.

Emergency Victoria say those forced to flee should take their pets, medications, mobile phones and chargers and seek shelter in residences away from the danger zone. People away from their homes are advised not to return.

Temperatures rose rapidly this morning, hitting 40C in parts of the northwest by 10.30am before dropping this afternoon.

Avalon Airport topped 35C at 9am and Melbourne’s Olympic Park was almost 32C at 9.15am.

At 11.30am it was already almost 38C in Melbourne’s CBD and 42C at Avalon.

Mildura, Swan Hill, Kerang and Echuca in the state’s northwest, are tipped to hit 46C while Bendigo heads to a top of 45C.

Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said it was “really, really disappointing” people had already broken a statewide fire ban, after firefighters responded to three campfires in rural Victoria by 8am.

Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp was more blunt.

“A number of our fires have been started by people leaving campfires unattended.” he said. “It really is dumb.”

TASMANIA: “The skies are frightening”

In Tasmania, the tiny townships of Maydena, Tyenna and National Park townships are under threat as a fire around 8800 hectares in size blazes just 20km away in the northwest.

A “watch and act” warning was extended at 2.20pm to nearby Bushy Park, Ellendale, Westerway and Fentonbury.

The Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) warns embers from the blaze, burning northwest of the communities, could threaten homes earlier than the main fire.

Waterfalls Cafe owner and Derwent Valley councillor Rachel Power said about 600 people were evacuated when the decision to close the Mount Field National Park at 11am.

“The situation closed in the space of an hour today [when] we saw the smoke clouds coming over.” she said. She said there around 60 people camping onsite last night.

While Mrs Power said bushfires were not uncommon to the area, a lot newer residents were likely to be fearful.

“There’d be some angst there. The red skies are pretty frightening.” she said.

The fire raging through the popular tourist destination began when lightning struck in Tasmanian wilderness, about an hour from Hobart.

Intense skies over the Royal Tasmania Yacht Club in Sandy Bay, 04-01-2019, due to fires southwest of Hobart. Picture: Twitter/@clearairsailing
Intense skies over the Royal Tasmania Yacht Club in Sandy Bay, 04-01-2019, due to fires southwest of Hobart. Picture: Twitter/@clearairsailing

Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman Paul Flood said the fire was caused by “dry lightning — when you have a lightning strike with no rain.”

A smoke plume from the Gell River fire over Mount Wellington, taken from South Hobart. Picture: Peter Grant
A smoke plume from the Gell River fire over Mount Wellington, taken from South Hobart. Picture: Peter Grant

Today is the sixth anniversary of the Dunalley bushfires that destroyed hundreds of homes in the state’s southeast.

The temperature at Hobart International Airport peaked at 36C, but that dropped markedly in the afternoon thanks to a cool change that is moving up the east coast.

KIDS IN CARS: Zero tolerance

Victorian Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said there was a zero tolerance policy towards parents locking their children in cars on hot days after two young boys were rescued from one car at a shopping centre in south-east Melbourne.

Ambulance Victoria said it was called to six cases of people locked in cars and that police may have handled the others.

“We’ve been extremely lucky and only a small number of those that were left in cars were transported to hospital,” Ambulance Victoria’s Justin Dunlop told reporters.

Ms Neville said it was never safe to leave children in cars under any circumstance.

“The biggest penalty for any penalty is to cause serious harm to their child. Locking children in a car can result in death and serious damage. The reality is there is a zero tolerance policy, you just can’t do it.”

It came as NSW, Victoria and Tasmania sweated through scorching temperatures today, with health authorities warning people to stay indoors, and grim predictions of extreme fire danger

Braced for a hot one: Sunrise at Altona Pier. in Melbourne today. Picture: Nicole Garmston
Braced for a hot one: Sunrise at Altona Pier. in Melbourne today. Picture: Nicole Garmston

NSW: Blazing tanker closes M1

More than 100 firefighters have gained the upper hand on a massive fuel fire after a tanker burst into flames on the side of a motorway near Wollongong about 9am.

The truck was carrying 36,000 litres of fuel along the M1 Princes Motorway, and as it burned sent black smoke into the air and forced traffic to a halt.

Residents were evacuated and traffic was at a standstill as about 20 emergency crews battled to keep the blaze within containment lines as the fireball repeatedly flared up with fuel spilling onto the roadway and into drains.

Firefighters, by midday, achieved a “significant fire knockdown”, FRNSW posted on Twitter. Hazmat crews are expected to remain on the scene to monitor further fuel run-off. The M1 will not reopen until Friday evening at the earliest due to the size of the recovery effort, Live Traffic NSW stated.

Petrol tanker explodes on highway south of Sydney
A 36,000 litre fuel tanker on fire on the Princes Motorway near the Princes Highway in West Wollongong. Picture: Nine News
A 36,000 litre fuel tanker on fire on the Princes Motorway near the Princes Highway in West Wollongong. Picture: Nine News

The 44-year-old driver escaped the tanker unhurt.

Sydney’s west is forecast to reach the mid-30s — Campbelltown and Penrith topped 33C at 1.20pm — while the mercury is tipped to hit 45C in other parts of the state.

Deniliquin and Hay topped 40C before noon, and had soared past 43C by 1.15pm.

A spike in the number of people hospitalised across NSW with heat-related illnesses prompted health experts to issue a warning ahead of the latest scorcher.

NSW Health Environmental Health director Dr Richard Broome pleaded with people to limit their time outside during the hottest period of the day and keep an eye on those most vulnerable to the heat.

“We’ve seen marked increases in ED presentations with heat-related illnesses over the last week or so,” he said.

— with AAP

Read related topics:Bushfires

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/heatwave-melbourne-nsw-tasmania-reel-as-heat-wind-set-in/news-story/39ac378ca419c3e598e7e0996463e713