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| One person missing in Victorian bushfires as temperature drops but wind persists | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| One person was missing as hundreds of firefighters battled to control bushfires across Victoria on Wednesday morning, with strong winds forecast to persist through the day. | |
| Country Fire Authority crews believed the person might be trapped on either side of fires near the town of Lancefield. | |
| Victoria Police said the missing Benloch man, in his 80s, had been “disconnected from his family”. | |
| More than 100 fires blazed across Victoria on Tuesday as unprecedented heat approaching 40C in some areas and a ferocious north-westerly wind blasted the state, followed by a dry, blustery south-westerly change. | More than 100 fires blazed across Victoria on Tuesday as unprecedented heat approaching 40C in some areas and a ferocious north-westerly wind blasted the state, followed by a dry, blustery south-westerly change. |
| Related: Bushfires threaten hundreds of homes in central Victoria | Related: Bushfires threaten hundreds of homes in central Victoria |
| The worst fire, near Lancefield, forced hundreds of people to evacuate on Tuesday night. The blaze, sparked by an escaped controlled burn in tinder dry forest, was threatening 200 homes late on Tuesday and had destroyed at least one along with numerous outbuildings as it scorched 2,500 hectares. | The worst fire, near Lancefield, forced hundreds of people to evacuate on Tuesday night. The blaze, sparked by an escaped controlled burn in tinder dry forest, was threatening 200 homes late on Tuesday and had destroyed at least one along with numerous outbuildings as it scorched 2,500 hectares. |
| An emergency warning was issued for Benloch, Pastoria East and Baynton East after the Lancefield fires spread north overnight. | |
| A deputy incident controller, Lee Gleeson, said more than 200 firefighters had worked overnight but there could be more than 400 on the scene by Wednesday morning. | A deputy incident controller, Lee Gleeson, said more than 200 firefighters had worked overnight but there could be more than 400 on the scene by Wednesday morning. |
| “Unfortunately, we’re expecting strong winds all day again, 40 to 60km/h winds from the south and the south-east all day,” he said. | “Unfortunately, we’re expecting strong winds all day again, 40 to 60km/h winds from the south and the south-east all day,” he said. |
| Two firebombing aircraft from Sydney and Canberra could join the fight, he said. | Two firebombing aircraft from Sydney and Canberra could join the fight, he said. |
| Greg Murphy from the Cobaw fire incident control centre said on Wednesday morning crews would be in for a tough day. | |
| “There’ll be lower temperatures but still quite fresh winds of 40-60 kilometres per hour,” he said. “It won’t be an easy day but by no means will it be as difficult as yesterday was. | |
| “We’ll have a better chance today of getting on top of these conditions.” | |
| Murphy said no further houses had been lost overnight but the number might rise on Wednesday. | |
| “We spent a considerable amount of time yesterday engaged in property protection,” he said. “We’re working hard with road assessment to open roads up as soon as possible. People obviously want to get back to their properties.” | |
| Temperatures reached 36C in Melbourne on Tuesday but the city was expecting a top of just 17C on Wednesday. | |
| The federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, has written to the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, to demand an explanation about how the controlled burn got out of control, according to a spokeswoman for Hunt. | The federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, has written to the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, to demand an explanation about how the controlled burn got out of control, according to a spokeswoman for Hunt. |