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Victoria bushfires: thunderstorms forecast as South Gippsland fire downgraded
Victoria bushfires: state remains on alert with gusty winds and lightning forecast
(about 1 hour later)
A fire burning near seaside towns in Victoria has been brought under control.
Fires burning in extreme conditions in Victoria have been largely contained but firefighters have warned the danger is not over.
The Country Fire Authority downgraded an emergency warning to a watch and act message for Cape Paterson, Harmers Haven and Wonthaggi on Saturday afternoon.
A band of lightning moving across the state could bring more fires as temperatures hit 40C and winds gust above 100km/h, and a total fire ban across the state has been declared for Sunday.
But two other fires in central Victoria were added to the watch and act alert list: one near Scotsburn and one at South Morang.
More than 300 fires were reported on Saturday, and there were 100 calls for help about wind blowing down trees, but damage was minimal.
“There’s a fire to the northwest corner of Meredith that is burning in open country and will be fanned by very strong winds, very strong winds,” the emergency management commissioner, Craig Lapsley, told reporters on Saturday afternoon.
“We haven’t lost a house today,” the emergency management commissioner, Craig Lapsley, told reporters on Saturday. “We’ve had some impact on outbuildings, only minor impact though.
The small scrub and grassfire is not yet under control is travelling fast in a southerly direction from Finns Rd, Scotsburn.
“That’s been due to some really good firefighting.”
Firefighters stopped the spread of the Wonthaggi grassfire in at Tank Hill, near Longwall Court.
Lapsley warned residents to watch out for lightning strikes and report if they saw smoke after 15 minutes.
“While the immediate threat has passed, leaving now is the safest option, as conditions may change again suddenly,” the CFA said.
“There’s no significant rain at all and we are concerned about the amount of lightning that will move through,” he said.
Residents were reminded to stay vigilant and monitor conditions.
A fast-moving fire burning in open country in central Victoria near Ballarat was not yet under control on Saturday evening, and residents were warned to leave.
Victoria was enduring one of its worst fire days of summer, with temperatures reaching 40C before noon. Several serious fires are burning across the state on a day when temperatures were forecast to reach 44C.
“There’s a fire to the northwest corner of Meredith that is burning in open country and will be fanned by very strong winds,” Lapsley said.
CFA spokesman Graeme Baxter said winds had picked up across the state and a severe thunderstorm warning for later in the day was expected to bring lightning with very little rain.
A fire burning out of control near Wonthaggi in Victoria’s south was brought under control and firefighters had also contained a Wandin North grassfire, which was no longer an immediate threat.
“The anxiety around that is that we will actually have lightning strikes which may ignite other fires so it’s important that other people follow the total fire bans we have across the state,” Baxter told ABC News 24.
Police arrested a man after a large suspicious grass fire in Epping on Melbourne’s outskirts.
“We’ve still got some pretty turbulent fire conditions ahead of us.”
The 34-year-old man was arrested in Vearings Road about 12.50pm.
Police have arrested a man over one of the fires, in the outer Melbourne suburb of Epping.
The fire took hold in grassland along the Hume Freeway and Cooper Street about 10.15am.
A 34-year-old man was arrested in Vearings Road, Epping, about 12.50pm and was assisting police with their inquiries.
Ambulance Victoria operations manager Paul Holman said people needed to check on their relatives and friends in the heat.
The fire started in grassland along the Hume Freeway and Cooper Street about 10.15am.
“We’ve already done up to a dozen cardiac arrests today unfortunately,” he told reporters.
No one was injured in the blaze and no properties were damaged.
A cold front is predicted to move across Victoria from the west on Sunday.
Residents in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria were earlier told it was too late to leave as a fire rages through the area, however the fire has since been contained.
Severe wind warnings and extreme fire danger ratings have been issued for large parts of the state, while Melbourne is expected to have a minimum overnight temperature of 29C.
The state’s emergency management commissioner, Craig Lapsley, said the fire was burning above Montrose and plenty of crews were on their way to battle the blaze.
South Australia also remained in the grip of a week-long heatwave but the end is in sight, according to forecasters.
“That’s in difficult country, helicopters and fire trucks are on their way now,” he told 3AW on Saturday.
“I think that’s going to be our afternoon, it’s hot, windy, everything that was predicted.”
Wandin North resident Brenny Cullen said he could see waterbombers fighting the fire from his home.
“We’re about 500 metres from the fire and I can see exactly where it is,” Mr Cullen said. “There is a lot of smoke, it’s a grass fire, but lots of firefighters are around.”
Strong wind gusts up to 80km/h are also expected to make firefighters’ jobs difficult in dry conditions.
Lapsley said while conditions weren’t the same as Black Saturday, it had been dry for months and drought-like conditions were visible across most of the state.
A total fire ban has been declared for Victoria on Saturday and Sunday.
A fast-moving, out-of-control fire has reportedly destroyed at least one shed and is threatening homes and businesses on Melbourne’s outskirts.
Related: Melbourne braces for heatwave as temperatures could hit 40C on Saturday
The CFA issued a watch and act message for the Epping area on Saturday morning.
“There is a medium 5ha grassfire travelling fast in a southerly direction from Harvest Home Road towards O’Hearns Road, Epping,” the CFA said in a statement.
A spokesperson from the State Control Centre said there was a lot of smoke in the area and five firefighting aircraft are helping fire crews on the ground douse the flames.
Residents were warned that conditions were changing and were told to enact their fire plans.
Firefighters were unable to stop the fire and it has now crossed O’Hearns Road and is travelling in a southerly direction and is impacting on Cooper Street. The area is close to factories and a hospital.
Seven News reported one property structure had been destroyed.
The Hume Freeway and Cooper Street have been closed due to the fire.
Out of control fires were also keeping South Australian firefighters busy as they braced for more extreme temperatures on Saturday.
The CFS issued advice warnings for Waltowa and Campoona.
Smoke is visible in nearby areas and residents were advised to close all doors and windows and enact their fire plans.
South Australia remains in the grip of a week-long heatwave.
Maximum temperatures in Adelaide have topped 40C for the past three days and the extreme conditions were forecast to peak on Saturday with the city tipped to have a top temperature of 44C.
The bushfire risk is also rising as winds increase ahead of a cooler change on Saturday night.
Strike teams of firefighters have been deployed to high-risk hot spots across Tasmania after authorities imposed fire bans across the state.
North and south regions of the island are subject to the bans for both Saturday and Sunday with hot and dry conditions forecast.
“There’s some hot weather coming over the weekend with some accompanying winds and the fire danger in some areas is going to be very high to severe,” Tasmania Fire Service chief Gavin Freeman told reporters on Friday.
Temperatures in some parts of Tasmania are expected to reach more than 30C on Saturday, with the heat pushing past 40C on Sunday in the north of the state.
Related: How to cope with a heatwave
Related: How to cope with a heatwave
“The grass and fire fuels are curing fairly rapidly so those conditions will carry fire,” Freeman said. “Under the weather that we’ve got available this weekend fire will develop quickly and spread rapidly.”
Saturday was a record-setting fourth December day where temperatures climbed above 40C – reaching 42.6C. A cool change is expected on Saturday night.
A bushfire burning near the state’s central Arthurs Lake district since Wednesday was stopped by crews on Friday and Freeman said a couple of other small blazes were expected be extinguished quickly.
An SA ambulance spokeswoman said the service had been busy, but extra staff had been rostered on to help deal with increased demand.
As a precaution, the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service has closed walking tracks for the weekend in some national parks, including at Freycinet and Douglas-Apsley on the east coast.
The blistering conditions have been blamed on a stationary high pressure system in the Tasman Sea which has been dragging hot air from the centre of Australia.
The heatwave has left an apprentice carpenter fighting for his life after he collapsed on a building site on Wednesday.
Travis Mellor, 17, was admitted to hospital in a critical condition and remained in a coma on Friday.
He was one of more than 100 hospital admissions over the past three days for heat-related issues, not including those admitted on Saturday.
The severe heat also forced Thoroughbred Racing SA to cancel a scheduled race meeting at Morphettville racecourse in Adelaide on Saturday.
Wildlife and conservation parks on the Eyre Peninsula were also closed.
