Victoria bushfires as it happened: Out-of-control blazes threaten towns

Submitted by daniel on Thu, 26/12/2024 - 10:27

Victoria bushfires as it happened: Out-of-control blazes threaten towns - The Age

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Residents watch and wait as inferno rages

As winds battered the small Western District town of Moyston and the sky turned an apocalyptic grey-green, local Tim Gubbins was at his property trying to prepare.

He and another CFA member from Terang watched the Grampians fire from their ute and pointed out spot fires sparked in the dense bush.

As a strong northerly wind fanned the flames, Gubbins noted that a predicted wind change could mean they were left facing the fire front.

But he said he was prepared and was thinking instead of those on the ground who were battling the blaze.

Our reporter Caroline Schelle was on the ground today, and spoke to evacuees and people readying their properties for fire, including Gubbins.

You can read her full report here.

More power outages likely, Energy Minister warns

Power outages have hit thousands of people in Victoria today due to the bushfires, and Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has warned more are likely on Friday.

As of 5.30pm, there were almost 5400 without power across Victoria due to outages, D’Ambrosio said.

That decreased to about 3600 by 8pm, with AusNet customers affected. AusNet covers Victoria’s east and north-east, and Melbourne’s north and east.

The Energy Minister warned: “As the strong winds intensify, the risks of more localised outages will increase from tonight into tomorrow.”

“[The Australian Energy Market Operator] advises that Victoria continues to have sufficient supply of electricity,” D’Ambrosio wrote on social media platform X.

“We encourage people to be prepared for up to 72 hours without power.”

‘Do not call triple zero’: Smoke alert includes Melbourne

Smoke from the massive Grampians National Park bushfire may be visible in Melbourne tonight, and across central Victoria more generally.

Vic Emergency issued an alert about 6pm warning of the smoke.

About the same time, State Control Centre spokesman Luke Heagerty said smoke and ash were being reported as far south of the fire as the Otway Ranges.

“There is no threat to any of those communities at this time,” he said.

“As the wind change moves across the state you may smell smoke or see ash. Please only call triple zero if you can see a fire.

“If you are ringing to report smoke only, do not call triple zero.”

‘Take shelter’: Eighth emergency warning lands

Another emergency warning for residents to “leave immediately” has been issued for Jallukar, Londonderry, Moyston and Rhymney.

“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous,” a Vic Emergency warning read.

Residents of Kia Ora and Willaura north, earlier subject to a warning to leave immediately, have also been told to take shelter and that it is too late to leave.

“If you have not already left, the time to safely evacuate has now passed. Take shelter indoors immediately. It is now too dangerous to leave,” the warning read.

The leave immediately message that previously included Kia Ora and Willaura north now only applies to Stavely, Strathmore, Willaura and Glenthompson.

You can check the Vic Emergency website for detailed instructions for what to do in the case of each different warning.

Grampians fire burns through 68,000 hectares

The Grampians National Park fire has now burned through at least 68,000 hectares of land, destroying the environment, livestock, and outbuildings and sheds in its path.

The amount of burnt land represents a significant portion of the Grampians National Park, which covers more than 167,000 hectares.

It’s unknown yet whether any homes have been lost to the blaze, but authorities said earlier today they were expecting as much.

State Control Centre spokesman Luke Heagerty provided an update about 6pm, saying northwesterly winds through the day spread the fire south-east, and saw spot fires ignite ahead of the main fire.

Alongside the six emergency warnings in place, watch and act-level warnings apply west of Stawell, at Great Western, the western side of Ararat, and down to Streatham.

“You need to monitor conditions because they are changing,” Heagerty said.

Likely impacts to the Mount William communications tower in the Grampians could mean NBN and phone services were cut to local communities, Heagerty said.

“If you’re in the area, please make sure that you’re not relying on your phone as your only source of emergency information,” he said.

The emergency warnings currently in effect

The situation on fire grounds across the state is changing rapidly, with a number of Vic Emergency warnings recently updated. Here’s a quick rundown of the current emergency warnings:

Bornes Hill and North Boundary Road — take shelter now.

Langi Logan, Maroona, Mininera, Nerrin Nerrin, Rossbridge, Streatham, Tatyoon, Tatyoon north and Westmere — leave immediately.

Bellfield, Bellfield Settlement, Flat Rock Crossing, Grampians Junction and Halls Gap — take shelter now.

Bellellen, Bellfield, Black Range, Borough Huts, Fyans Creek, Illawarra, Lake Fyans, Lake Lonsdale, Ledcourt, Mokepilly, Mount Dryden, Pomonal and Roses Gap — leave immediately.

Glenthompson, Kia Ora, Moyston, Stavely, Strathmore, Willaura and Willaura north — leave immediately.

Mafeking — take shelter now.

Multiple warnings can apply to a single suburb or town, depending on the boundaries of each warning.

You can find detailed instructions for what to do in each of the warning circumstances at the Vic Emergency website, along with other bushfire warnings across the state, including watch and act alerts.

Dangerous conditions to continue into the weekend

The hazardous fire conditions will continue into the weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology warned.

There could be a shower or two early on Friday, and the humidity would be a lot higher, which was good for firefighting crews, senior meteorologist Michael Efron said.

“But as we head into Friday afternoon, we’re looking at dry conditions, and those winds will still be moderate, maybe even locally fresh,” he said.

“So despite a cooler day, [it’s] still hazardous conditions because of the dry air, and those winds still being reasonably strong through Friday afternoon.”

Winds were expected to be between 30km/h and 40km/h around the Grampians on Friday, but gusting up to 60km/h in the Grampians’ more elevated areas.

Saturday would be similar in terms of wind strength but with some showers in the late morning and into the afternoon in the Grampians.

“It’s unlikely there’ll be much more than a few millimetres [of rain]. It should slightly reduce the fire spread, but it’s not enough to extinguish that fire,” Efron said.

“The terrain there is so difficult that getting crews in there to do a huge amount of work is hard.

“It’s one of those ones that could burn for some time, until there’s significant rainfall.

“Beyond [Saturday], it does look relatively dry, and into the new year, there’s no sign of any significant rainfall either. It’s a concern, the lack of rainfall.”

Melburnians could expect the cool change to hit them about 9pm tonight, with the temperature dropping about 10 degrees in the space of 15 minutes to half an hour, Efron said.

From 6pm, 100km/h wind gusts will fan the flames

There are grave concerns for the region surrounding the Grampians National Park blaze tonight, with wind gusts of up to 100km/h expected to fan the fire from about 6pm.

The Bureau of Meteorology said winds were initially northerly over the Grampians this afternoon, tending northwesterly. Gusts in the region have been up to 95km/h at Horsham already, noting the bureau has lost communication with its weather station at Mount William on top of the Grampians.

“The concern is around 6pm in that Grampians region, when the winds will actually shift — they’ll be coming from the west, and along with that, they’ll actually strengthen as well,” senior meteorologist Michael Efron told this masthead.

The change in direction and strength of the wind was a concern, with gusts of up to 90km/h through parts of the Grampians after 6pm, and up to 100km/h gusts at the peaks, Efron said.

“That wind change coming through at 6pm will then result in really gusty conditions, not just for a brief period of time, but ... even [for] the rest of tonight and into the early hours of Friday as well,” he said.

“Often we think that the winds will ease near or following sunset, but in this case, it looks like they’ll actually be at their strongest near or just after that sunset period.”

The period between about 6pm and midnight was of the greatest concern, when the highest wind gusts were expected.

“The temperature will be dropping following that change, but the wind strength means that it’s still really hazardous conditions across the fire ground,” Efron said.

Shower no reprieve for Grampians

A brief rain shower passed over the Grampians region earlier this afternoon.

But it won’t bring any real relief as the out-of-control national park fire rages on.

The brief shower came as strike teams patrolled the dirt tracks between Pomonal and Moyston, which are both now subject to emergency warnings to leave immediately.

Any respite was shortlived. The rain lasted only a few minutes and did nothing to stop the Grampians National Park fire, which has so far burnt through more than 55,000 hectares.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the rainfall predicted in the coming days will prove inconsequential for the blaze, which needs a significant downfall to make any real difference.

There are no significant falls on the horizon in the area, even into the new year, at this stage.