Victoria fires live updates: emergency bushfire warnings and road closures in Grampians, Vic; dangerous fire conditions in South Australia and NSW

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Strong westerly winds could lead to ‘dangerous fire behaviour’ before cool change, BoM says

Dean Narramore, senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology said the cool change was moving into western Victoria and would be approaching the Grampians fire zone within the next hour or so.

That’s going to change the wind from a strong northerly to a strong westerly, which will probably lead to erratic and dangerous fire behaviour.

The cold front moving through southern Australia meant Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia could look forward to temperatures in the 20s after getting into the 40s today.

It would be a hot day in NSW tomorrow, he said, but the state would cool down by Saturday.

The heat in Queensland continues, but then [will] start to rebuild again in western parts of Western Australia on Sunday and Monday, then that heat will once again spread across the country on the 30th and the 31st in the lead-up to New Year’s Eve.

It was looking like a warm, dry New Year’s Eve across western and southern Australia, he said. Showers and storms were expected in the tropical north, and possibly around Sydney and Brisbane.

We’re not looking as hot as the current heat that we’re having. It’s probably looking more like widespread low to mid 30s, and inland areas getting into the high 30s to low 40s.

A Leave Immediately bushfire warning has been issues for Langi Logan, Maroona, Mininera, Nerrin Nerrin, Rossbridge, Streatham, Tatyoon, Tatyoon North, and Westmere.

Full details are here.

A reminder, that as well as the places listed in the previous post, there are “Take Shelter” orders in place for Mafeking and Bornes Hill.

A reminder that the guidance for people in those areas from the emergency services is: “You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.”

Instructions issued to aid survival for people who have not evacuated

An emergency take shelter warning has just been issued for Bellfield, Bellfield Settlement, Flat Rock Crossing, Grampians Junction, Halls Gap.

Here’s that warning from Vic Emergency in full:

There is a bushfire at Grampians national park – Yarram Gap Rd that is not yet under control.

The bushfire is travelling from the Grampians national park in a north-easterly direction towards Halls Gap.

The fire has crossed Sundial Rd.

It is too late to leave the area safely so you must take shelter now.

You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.

What you should do:

You should move indoors:

Protect yourself by wearing long sleeves and trousers, made from pure cotton or wool. Wear leather boots.

Bring your pets inside.

Close all exterior doors, windows and vents and turn off cooling systems.

You must take shelter before the fire arrives. The extreme heat is likely to kill you well before the flames reach you.

Shelter in a room that has two exits, such as a door or window including one directly to the outside. It is important to be able to see outside so you know what is happening with the fire.

If your home catches on fire:

Move away from the rooms that are on fire, closing doors behind you.

As soon as the bushfire has passed the house, or conditions inside become unbearable, you need to get out and go to an area that has already been burnt. Staying inside a burning building will almost certainly end in death.

It may still be too hot to remain outside, so you will need to seek shelter in another structure or last resort option.

If you cannot get indoors, last resort options include:

Shelter in the middle of a large open area like a ploughed paddock, football oval or sporting reserve.

Get into a large body of water like a dam, lake, river, the ocean or inground pool.

Try to protect yourself from the fire’s heat.

If you are travelling:

If you are travelling, do not enter the warning area. Make a U-turn and travel to safety.

If you are currently driving, slow down and turn on your headlights. Smoke will make it difficult to see.

If you are caught in fire in your car:

Park off the road behind a solid structure to block the fire’s heat or pull over to cleared area.

Try to position the car towards the approaching fire.

Turn on your hazard lights and headlights.

Close all windows.

Turn off the air-conditioning and shut all the air vents.

Turn your car engine off.

Get down as low as possible below window level and cover up with a pure woollen blanket.

Impacts in your area:

Trees can be extremely dangerous during a bushfire or high winds. Do not stand, park or travel in areas of fire affected trees.

Trees can fall across roads and cause dangerous driving conditions.

The Mt William communications tower is likely to be impacted affecting both mobile phone and NBN services.

Tune into local radio for emergency updates.

The next update is expected by 8.30pm or as the situation changes.

Strong, changeable winds increasing risk in fire areas

Victorian State Control Centre spokesperson Luke Hegarty said the state was approaching the critical part of the day, as a wind change moved through the west, with warnings being updated as conditions changed.

The Grampians national park fire has had its warnings adjusted as the day has progressed. We now have two emergency warnings in place, with advice to take shelter now for Mafeking and Bornes Hill, and advice to leave immediately for communities around Glenthompson, Moyston, Willaura and Willaura North.

He urged all Victorians to check the VicEmergency app or website and familiarise themselves with current warnings.

“There’s still a number of hours to go before we see conditions really ease. We’re expecting strong winds and variable winds to be a concern for us over the next few hours, across those fire areas as the wind change moves through the state.

Hi, this is Kate Lyons, taking you through for the rest of the day.

For those looking for information about the warnings in place and fires being watched and fought across Victoria, the Vic Emergency incidents and warnings page (here in text form, here in map form), is where to go.

Residents of Bornes Hill ‘should take shelter immediately’

For much of the day there has also been an emergency warning in place for Bornes Hill.

This emergency warning, in place since shortly before 11am, covers Bornes Hill and the North Boundary Road area, due to a bushfire at Yarram Gap Road in the Grampians national park that is not yet under control.

The fire is travelling in a southerly direction.

Residents who have not already left have been warned that the time to safely evacuate has now passed.

Authorities have cautioned locals to “take shelter indoors immediately”.

“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.”

Full information on the Vic Emergency page here.

NSW Rural fire service asks farmers to stop harvesting due to fire risk

The NSW Rural fire service has requested that farmers across multiple regions of the state stop their harvesting due to the increased fire risk.

“Under the current conditions, fires will start easily and spread rapidly. They have the potential to threaten life and property, as well as destroying millions of dollars’ worth of crop and equipment.

“The RFS appreciates the cooperation of farmers on days of heightened fire danger. Stopping harvesting until weather conditions ease lowers the risk of fires breaking out and can prevent a great deal of damage.”

Farmers in the Murray River, Edward River, Murrumbidgee, Greater Hume, Federation, Berrigan, Junee, Lockhart, Coolamon, Wagga Wagga, Cootamundra, Gundagai and Hilltops regions were all asked to stop harvesting.

They were requested to only resume operations once it was safe to do so, after checking weather conditions, the grain harvesting guide and their equipment.

Authorities in Victoria have issued an emergency warning for a bushfire at Mafeking in the state’s west.

Locals have been told to take shelter immediately.

And with that, I leave the blog with Elias Visontay. Thanks for reading.

Leaving early only way to guarantee safety: deputy premier

Dangerous fire conditions will continue across Victoria until Saturday, as residents are warned to follow advice, not light fires, and be ready to leave when instructed by emergency services.

“Dangerous fire conditions are forming today and will go right through to Saturday,” said Ben Carroll, the state’s deputy premier.

The current situation is that today’s fire danger ratings are extreme across the whole state except for Gippsland, which is rated high. A total fire ban has been declared right across Victoria. The advice is very clear – don’t light fires. Conditions are especially dangerous for people in areas where bushfires have already been burning. As we’ve repeatedly said, the fire we are most worried about is the fire we do not know of.”

Carroll warned that new fires could become dangerous very quickly, especially when winds are reaching speeds of 90km/h to 100km/h.

If you live, work or are holidaying in these areas, you must have an action and a bushfire survival plan in place. Leaving early is the only way to guarantee the safety of you, your loved ones, and your family. We need people to take these warnings seriously. Deciding against the advice of our emergency services could just be the last decision you make.

Victorians praised for bushfire readiness

Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, has praised Victorians for their responsiveness to messages from the State Control Centre regarding the bushfires.

I thank the community – they have absolutely listened to the messages that we’ve been given over the last few days. They are leaving their homes and they’re leaving them early,” he said. “They’re going to stay with friends and family. Some of them are in relief centres. But clearly, the messaging back to us here at the State Control Centre is that the community is listening to the messages that we are providing.

Nugent said conditions were likely to stay difficult for today and tomorrow as westerlies are due to continue through this afternoon, this evening and into tomorrow.

He urged people living in the state to follow precautions to keep safe:

Download the VicEmergency app if you don’t have it already. Set up your watch zone. If you have it already, continue to monitor the app, but don’t just rely on one source of information. Please stay tuned to your local broadcasters and know the environment around you. If you don’t need to drive through those areas, please do not drive through the areas. Please avoid travel where you absolutely can.

Properties at risk as Grampians fire burns through 55,000 hectares of land

Houses are expected to be lost in today’s bushfires across Victoria and “considerable environmental damage” has already been done, the emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, has warned, as the state faces one of its most dangerous days of bushfire risk in years.

The Grampians fire, which is one of four that emergency responders are “really concerned about”, has burnt through 55,000 hectares of land already.

“We know there’s considerable environmental damage in the Grampians,” he said.

We have no reports as yet of residential homes, but there are many residential homes in the bush areas on the edges of the Grampians. So I wouldn’t be surprised, at some point, if we do have residential losses. But firefighters, I can say, are doing everything possible to protect life and protect property in what they’re doing.

Nugent has issued a stark warning about the conditions across the entire state, which have made it “extremely difficult for firefighters”. These include temperatures in the north of Victoria that are expected to be between 38C and 42C, strong, gusty, northerly winds that are pushing some of the fire south of the Grampians, and a predicted change in wind directions later this afternoon.

The change in wind conditions will “move across to the south-west or more westerly and south-westerly, which again make it really problematic for firefighters with any of those existing fires,” Nugent said.

Uncontrollable fires expected as gusts of winds up to 80km/h forecast

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Dean Narramore has said gusts of up to 80km/h are forecast for some areas in Victoria today.

He said extreme fire danger ratings are current for everywhere in Victoria except for East Gippsland.

The combination of hot, dry and windy conditions is leading to these extreme fire dangers.

What that means is if fires get going or already ongoing through the Grampians national park, the weather conditions over the next six-to-12 hours, possibly longer, mean that any fire will be uncontrollable and uncontainable in these conditions.

We also have a severe weather warning for damaging winds, for much of western Victoria … that does include the Grampians national park with winds of 60 to 80km/h.

Some photos from the frontlines in Victoria:

South Australia’s state duty commander, Ann Letcher, said a cool change was sweeping through the state earlier than expected.

It’s gone across most of the southern areas, and it’s really just those eastern border areas that haven’t seen the change yet. But we are seeing with the change some increased winds that are lasting for a couple of hours after the change has come through.

While the cooler temperatures were a relief for South Australians, who had experienced a very hot Christmas Day and night, the winds meant the elevated fire risk continued.

Until those winds drop out, we’re not able to relax completely, and the community still needs to be taking care.

The state hadn’t seen a large number of incidents by midday Thursday, and a blaze that started yesterday in northern Adelaide was now mostly extinguished.

Even though milder weather was expected in coming days, Letcher reminded people to remain prepared for bushfires, and if they hadn’t yet prepared, to jump online and make a five-minute fire plan.

In Victoria, extreme fire conditions were already starting to develop as forecast, according to state control centre spokesperson, Luke Hegarty.

Over the next few hours, we expect the northerly winds to continue to strengthen, which will mean that any fire that is burning will spread.

Then we have the real risk later in the day, in the early evening through to night-time, when the southerly wind change will hit the state.

The strong, gusty conditions brought the risk of new incidents and could spread existing fires already burning in the Grampians national park, Bullengarook near Gisborne, Creswick and The Gurdies near Grantville, he said.

Any of those winds have the potential to spread those for fires, towards communities that, at the moment, have not been under a warning.

Hegarty urged those planning to travel in the state to reassess.

This is a critical part of the day. If you don’t need to travel, please postpone your plans.

Stay off the roads, stay safe and keep up to date with the current fires and any new fires. Know what the warnings are for your area. Go to the Vic emergency app, the Vic emergency website, emergency.vic.gov.au or listen to local emergency broadcasters.

A statewide fire ban remained in place, with extreme fire danger across eight of the nine fire weather districts.

Good morning

Welcome to our Boxing Day blog covering the bushfires and dangerously hot and windy weather.

We begin in Victoria, where authorities are evacuating people from areas in central and western regions, as five fires continue to rip through the state.

The current fires are burning at Grampians national park, Bullengarook, Creswick and at the Gurdies. Residents in the Grampians towns of Bornes Hill, Moyston and Pomonal were also ordered to leave on Wednesday as the blaze raced towards them.

Damaging winds and high temperatures are fuelling the fires, with some areas forecast to hit the high 30s and low 40s later today.

In South Australia, a total fire ban was declared for five regions, as gusty conditions contribute to the dangerous conditions.

We will keep you updated on both situations, and everything else happening across the country.