Victoria declares a state of disaster as bushfires destroy homes and scorch 150,000 hectares amid a severe heatwave, with three people missing.
SYDNEY: Australian authorities declared a state of disaster on Saturday after bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in the country’s southeast.
Temperatures soared past 40C as a heatwave blanketed the state of Victoria this week. Hot winds fanned some of the most dangerous fire weather seen since the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020.
One of the most destructive bushfires ripped through almost 150,000 hectares near Longwood. Early reports indicate at least 20 houses were destroyed in the small town of Ruffy.
State premier Jacinta Allan declared a state of disaster, giving fire crews emergency powers to force evacuations. “It’s all about one thing: protecting Victorian lives,” she said.
“And it sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave, go.”
Three people, including a child, were missing inside one of the state’s most dangerous fire grounds. More than 30 separate bushfires were still burning on Saturday.
The worst fires have largely been confined to sparsely populated rural areas. Photos showed the night sky glowing orange as the fire near Longwood ripped through bushland.
“There were embers falling everywhere. It was terrifying,” cattle farmer Scott Purcell told the ABC.
Another bushfire near the small town of Walwa crackled with lightning as it radiated enough heat to form a localised thunderstorm. Hundreds of firefighters from across Australia have been called in to help.
Millions have sweltered through this week’s intense heatwave. Hundreds of baby bats died earlier this week as stifling temperatures settled over the state of South Australia.
The “Black Summer” bushfires raged across Australia’s eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020. They razed millions of hectares, destroyed thousands of homes and blanketed cities in noxious smoke.
Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.51C since 1910, fuelling increasingly frequent extreme weather. Australia remains one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of gas and coal.
