Daily London
An overnight wind change has kept firefighters on their toes in Victoria as they work to contain a number of out-of-control bushfires.
Fresh emergency warnings were issued for communities near the blaze, burning 25 kilometres west of Walwa.
Residents in multiple towns – Tallangatta Valley, Bullioh, Koetong, Shelley, Berrignama, Lucyvale, Nariel Valley, Cudgewa, Corryong, Towong, Thowgla Valley, Biggara and surrounds – have been told it’s “too late to leave” and to “take shelter now”.
People from Granya, Bungil, Burrowye, Walwa and surrounds were advised to get out before it’s too dangerous.
VicEmergency said properties could be impacted as an approaching wind change moved through the region.
“Current wind direction is from the west, which is creeping the fire in an easterly direction,” the advice said.
“A south/south-westerly change is predicted throughout the night, which may change the direction of travel slowly in a north-easterly direction.”
A relief centre was available at the Wodonga Racecourse for those in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, authorities battling the Longwood fire – the biggest of the major blazes in the state – are hopeful overnight conditions are good for possible containment.
However, they say the area’s not out of the woods yet, with potential flare-ups still possible due to the winds.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) also still has severe weather warnings in place for parts of the state, including the region surrounding Longwood.
Northern Country, North East, East Gippsland and West and South Gippsland are still under the weather warning, which has now been cancelled for South West, Mallee, North Central, Central and Wimmera districts.
Maximum temperatures in the eastern parts of Victoria are set to go from the mid-20s and 30s today, down to the mid-to-low teens on Sunday, before increasing back to the mid-20s and 30s again early next week, the weather service forecasts.
A total fire ban remains in place across the state on Sunday.
“Many of these major fires will continue to burn for days if not weeks,” Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said during a press conference on Saturday.
So far, more than 300,000 hectares have been burnt across the state, and 115 structures have been destroyed.
Those numbers are likely to go up in the coming days as people return to their communities, assess the damage and begin the clean up.
Water in bushfire-ravaged town ‘not safe to drink’
And there’s a second blow for residents returning to their charred homes in Harcourt, in Victoria’s Central Highlands, after the Ravenswood Fire went through.
Authorities have said the tap water is “not safe to drink”, and boiling it will not help.
It’s believed a burst water main may have caused contaminated water to enter the network, but crews were unable to access the main due to the conditions.
They’re working to provide an alternative water supply until they can repair the damage.
Victorians are also being warned about poor air quality across large parts of the state.
Geelong, Latrobe Valley, East Gippsland, the North East, North Central, Northern Country, Wimmera and Mallee are being listed as “poor”, according to the state’s Environment Protection Authority.
While for Melbourne, Central and West and South Gippsland, the air quality is currently labelled “fair” and it’s at “good” in the state’s south-west.
‘Kick in the guts’ for those who’ve lost everything
Losing his home while defending neighbouring properties was a “kick in the guts” for Tyrone Rice.
The Harcourt local has worked with the County Fire Authority for 48 years and was fighting a bushfire in his hometown when he received news that his own house was in the firing line.
“It was too late, it was gone, it was already on fire,” he told 9News.
Rice is now grappling with the loss.
“[A] bit like a kick in the guts, but I’m not the first person to go through it, and I won’t be the last,” he said.
And Rice was not alone – his brother and sister-in-law, who lived nearby, also lost their home.
Meanwhile, volunteer firefighter Michael Harper also lost his Alexandra home as he helped others.
The township of Ruffy had numerous properties and even the town’s 150-year-old school decimated by the Longwood Fire.
Jamie and Ann Laherty-Hunt’s home of more than a decade was among those lost, describing the fast-moving blaze as “a freight train just coming at us”.
“When it came, it came,” Mrs Laherty-Hunt told 9News.
“Everyone uses the word ferocious, and it really kind of is.”
Emergency relief assistance extended
Premier Jacinta Allan said the community is grieving as she declared a state of disaster across Victoria.
The primary reason for the declaration was to allow more powers for emergency workers to force evacuations and keep people out of danger areas.
“This has been with one single purpose, protecting and saving Victorian lives,” Allan said in a press conference on Saturday morning.
It also opens up more payments for those in need, with anyone in a fire zone now eligible.
“This will not be the end of the assistance for those fire-affected communities, as those impact assessments continue, we know there is a long recovery journey ahead,” Allan said.
