Residents in three communities have been ordered to evacuate immediately as a wildfire spreads out of control, and firefighters prepare for more dangerous conditions.
People in Bornes Hill, towards the south of the Grampians National Park, were told to leave immediately after an emergency was declared on Wednesday night.
The out-of-control bushfire in western Victoria is moving south-east, with increased fire activity seen between Lynches Crossing Track and Childs Lane.
Residents of Moyston and Pomonal, to the north of the national park, were also asked to leave the area immediately.
“Private property adjacent to the National Park could be affected in the next two hours, south of the Pomonal 2024 fire area,” the alert said.
‘Leaving immediately is the safest option before conditions become too dangerous.
“Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay.”
The fire has burned more than 40,000 hectares and it remains dangerous for people to return to Bellfield, Halls Gap and the surrounding area.
More than 100 firefighters are battling to contain a monster fire ravaging the Grampians National Park in western Victoria.
Help centers have been set up at the Alexandra Oval Community Center in Ararat and at Grampians Community Health, or The Shacc, in Stawell.
In other incidents, crews contained a grass fire in Smithfield, north of Adelaide, as temperatures in South Australia’s capital reached 36C.
Complete fire bans were declared on Thursday for South Africa’s Mid-North, Riverland, Murraylands, Upper South East and Lower South East regions, with the fire risk considered extreme.
Multiple fires were also burning east of Perth and in the northwest and southwest of WA, with emergency services warning people to avoid the Laverton area and monitor conditions at Bornholm in Albany.
“There are two main concerns on Thursday: the fires already burning across the landscape and any new fires that start as a result of the extreme fire risk,” National Fire Authority Chief Jason Heffernan said.
A complete fire ban has been declared across the state, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting temperatures of up to 40 degrees, with wind gusts of up to 100km/h in elevated areas.
“That’s enough to bring down trees and power lines, cause some minor power outages, but also create dangerous conditions for our ongoing fires across the Grampians,” meteorologist Dean Narramore said on Wednesday.
Local residents have been asked to prepare for power outages and provider AusNet warns that outages could be triggered to prevent bushfires starting on Thursday.
The city of Halls Gap has already
As a cold shift grips Victoria on Friday, extreme fire dangers will spread to parts of central northeastern New South Wales.
Cautiously anticipating a potential disaster, 100 interstate firefighters are heading to Victoria to help contain the risk.
There were also reports of fires in central Victoria at Bullengarook and at The Gurdies in the state’s east on Wednesday.
Extreme fire danger warnings are in place for all parts of Victoria for the next 48 hours, except for East Gippsland, where a high fire danger is forecast.
Residents and travelers in South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia have also been warned that they also face a high fire danger this week due to extreme weather.
In New South Wales, hot, dry and windy conditions pose extreme fire danger in the Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney, Northern Slopes and North Western regions.
Regional areas of South Australia are also expecting hot conditions on Boxing Day.
Adelaide is forecast to face a high of 36C after the 37C predicted for Christmas Day.
In Western Australia, firefighters were putting out a fire on Sunday that had threatened lives and property on the northern outskirts of Perth.
The fast-moving fire at Two Rocks forced evacuation warnings to be issued Sunday afternoon, but it was later brought under control.
A high fire danger is again forecast for the region on Monday, while an extreme risk is forecast in parts of the interior midwest and south-west of WA.