Much of Australia’s southeast is being enveloped by sweltering temperatures and wind gusts creating catastrophic fire conditions sweeping across several states.
Hot and dry weather is blanketing large parts of Victoria, southwest NSW and much of eastern South Australia, with damaging winds fanning extreme fire danger in some of the worst conditions seen since the 2019 Black Summer.
Authorities fear property losses will be inevitable if the fires intensify, despite crews working non-stop to secure containment lines.
The mercury reached the mid 30s for much of Victoria and inland Australia by 1pm on Thursday, with temperatures set to climb into the 40s and the central western Queensland town of Birdsville forecast for a 47C belter.
A high-pressure trough which brought temperatures in the high 30s to South Australia on Christmas Day has made its way across the border to Victoria.
All but one region of Victoria faces extreme fire risk, with total fire bans also declared for numerous regions in SA.
Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said four fires across Victoria — in the Grampians, Bullengarook, the Gurdies and Creswick — continued to concern authorities.
The most concerning — an out-of-control bushfire in Grampians National Park — has been burning for days, scorching more than 55,000 hectares.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at some point if we do have residential losses,” Nugent told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
‘Don’t be a dickhead’
Residents in the Grampians towns of Bornes Hill, Moyston, Pomonal, Mafeking and Strathmore have been ordered to leave.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan also delivered a stern message for people across the state.
“The message couldn’t be clearer: today’s a day of total fire ban across Victoria. Don’t be a dickhead. No fires to be lit,” she said.
Victoria State Control Centre spokesman Luke Hegarty warned strong and gusty winds of up to 100km/h would spread fires quickly, evading the control of fire crews.
Incident Controller Mark Gunning said the wind could make fire spread in unpredictable ways.
“As the wind goes across the ranges in the Grampians, it’ll make its own conditions,” he said.
“It could swirl around, it could push in any number of directions.”
Two wind changes are expected to affect the Grampians blaze in the afternoon, the first arriving about 3pm and a stronger southwesterly arriving about 6pm.
Northern Grampians Shire Council mayor Karen Hyslop said 18 aircraft and 300 firefighters including Tasmanian firefighting personnel sent to assist had been battling the blaze since early on Thursday.
“It’s been a long haul, it’s been nine days we’ve had the fire burning for,” she told ABC News while calling for government support for businesses in the recovery process.
Halls Gap Zoo has begun evacuating some of its animals to Werribee Zoo with sprinklers keeping remaining animals cool.
Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister said the federal government had yet to receive any formal requests for assistance, but was ready for support.
‘Any fire will be uncontrollable and uncontainable’
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Dean Narramore said the combination of strong winds, high temperatures and dry air made for dangerous fire activity.
“If fires get going or already ongoing through the Grampians National Park, the weather conditions over the next six to 12 hours, possibly longer, mean that any fire will be uncontrollable and uncontainable in these conditions,” he said.
A severe weather warning for damaging winds of 60 to 80 kilometres an hour is also in place for much of western Victoria.
Power provider AusNet warned customers that cuts could be triggered to prevent bushfires from starting and outages could last longer to ensure safety.
As a cool change washes over Victoria on Thursday night, hot, dry and windy conditions will push into parts of central northeastern NSW, bringing extreme fire danger on Friday.
