With temperatures expected to reach the mid-40s in some regions, officials are concerned that this might be the worst fire day for the state in four years, therefore more than 30,000 Victorians have been asked to evacuate their homes.
Residents in a possible fire impact zone in western Victoria, between Ballarat and Ararat, were asked by authorities on Tuesday to evacuate their houses by Wednesday morning or overnight.
About 30,000 residents in the vicinity, including those in the towns of Amphitheatre, Beaufort, Clunes, Elmhurst, Lexton, Glenbrae, and Learmonth, will get text message alerts on Tuesday telling them to evacuate, according to Rick Nugent, Victoria’s commissioner of emergency management.
Victoria fires: a high wildfire risk notice is in effect for more than half of the state due to the expected heatwave.
He warned that Wednesday’s predicted hot and windy weather will likely fuel the development of an already-existing blaze in Bayindeen, northwest of Ballarat, which might have an impact on the towns.
In these locations, Nugent warned reporters, “Fire, spot fires, and ember attacks are quite possible; these could result in loss of homes, closure of roads, and isolating [of] communities.”
“We request that you leave these areas if you are present.”
Since it began on Thursday, the Bayindeen blaze, according to Nugent, has destroyed six houses and ten outbuildings, burning across 21,300 hectares.
“Losing all of those belongings is devastating for families, but a life cannot be replaced,” he remarked. “Saving lives is the main goal here.”
In addition to the evacuation of all inmates from Langi Kal Kal jail and inhabitants of nearby elderly care facilities, two relief centres have been established in Ararat and Maryborough for those preparing to go.
Serious worries about Wednesday’s heat wave in Victoria following the destruction of six homes by wildfires
“Please leave and leave early if you are in an area that is at risk of bushfire.”
Jason Heffernan, the chief executive of the Country Fire Authority, warned that any fire that breaks out in the Wimmera on Wednesday may turn “uncontrolled very quickly.”
He declared, “No home is built to withstand those catastrophic conditions.”
Wednesday is expected to be “incredibly difficult,” according to Premier Jacinta Allan, as temperatures surge to the mid-40s in north-west Victoria and the high 30s and low 40s across the remainder of the state. A chilly shift in the afternoon was expected to bring with it dry lightning and wind gusts as high as 80 km/h.
She stated, “It looks like tomorrow will be one of the riskiest fire days Victoria has seen in a long time.” More than 60 aircraft and thousands of Victorian firemen have been sent to Ballarat and Halls Gap, along with about 110 firefighters from New South Wales. As a precaution, Allan said, roughly 100 schools and early development centres will close on Wednesday. Affected families will be notified by the department. Wednesday is predicted to be 38°C in Melbourne, with winds moving from north to northeast at up to 50 km/h in the late afternoon to southwest.
Although there is a potential of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening, authorities do not anticipate a recurrence of the damaging storms that caused over 500,000 houses in Victoria to lose power.
Longtime consumer advocate Rosemary Sinclair will lead an investigation into how electricity firms handled the storm, according to a Tuesday announcement made by Lily D’Amrobosio, the minister of energy.
The panel, which is anticipated to submit a final report to the minister in August 2024, will also include Gerard Brody, the former CEO of the Consumer Action Law Center, and Kevin Kehl, the former executive leader at Powerlink Queensland and Energy and electrical engineer.
