Firefighters Racing Against Time to Contain Enormous Bushfire
Firefighters battling a massive uncontrolled bushfire in the nation’s east are racing to get the upper hand before temperatures soar in the coming days.
The blaze in Victoria’s Grampians National Park has razed 29,000 hectares and continues to grow despite more than 300 firefighters doing their best to bring it to heel.
Authorities say it could take weeks to fully contain the fire ignited by a lightning strike earlier in the week and an emergency evacuation warning remains in place for several communities.
Incident controller Aaron Kennedy said the blaze was burning in very steep, difficult and dry terrain.
“Our ability to fight this fire directly is quite challenging,” he said.
Kennedy said the fire risk was expected to spike on Thursday when a maximum temperature of 39C and windy conditions were forecast for the area.
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“This will mean that we’ll see again, potentially significant fire behaviour, and then increased growth of the fire across the landscape,” he said.
“Our crews are working really hard to try and contain this fire prior to the Boxing Day weather event.”
Kennedy said two years of dry conditions in western Victoria, particularly in the Grampians National Park, meant fires spread quickly.
The emergency evacuation warning remained in place overnight for the Grampians blaze, with residents of several towns, including Bellfield, Halls Gap and Fyans Creek, have been told to leave immediately.
The threat to the nearby communities of Lake Fyansm Pomonal, Mafeking, and Watgania eased late on Saturday when emergency warnings were downgraded to watch and act, and not safe to return.
A blaze at Bullengarook, northwest of Melbourne, was also downgraded to a watch and act.
A watch and act warning remains in place for Bornes Hill, Grampians, Jimmy Creek, Mirranatwa, Victoria Valley, Barton, Jallukur and Londonderry.
Relief centres are open in Ararat and Stawell. The Grampians National Park is closed to visitors.
A bushfire in The Gurdies in South Gippsland was also downgraded to an advice warning.
Firies in NSW and Western Australia (WA) have also battled multiple bushfires in the first weeks of summer.
Temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s are expected to hit WA, including the wooded southwest of the state, over the weekend before pushing eastward.
Elevated fire dangers are forecast for the south and midwest of WA with dry thunderstorms possible for western parts.
Heatwave conditions are forecast for the state’s midwest and the Kimberley and Pilbara regions.
Moderate and extreme fire weather are forecast for inland parts of NSW in coming days, including the greater Sydney area.
