Firefighters battle blazes across Victoria and South Australia
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Version 0 of 1. Firefighters have tackled blazes across Victoria and South Australia as rising temperatures saw both Melbourne and Adelaide cook in 40C heat. By Wednesday afternoon Victoria’s Country Fire Authority was dealing with 20 live fires, while South Australia’s Country Fire Service was deployed to 26 incidents. The CFA issued an emergency warning to the Victorian town of Yaapeet about a “fast moving, out-of-control bushfire” travelling in a south-easterly direction from Goslings Road. Residents should leave their houses immediately to ensure their safety, the CFA said, urging people to drive out with their headlights on so they could be seen through the smoke. The warning followed the outbreak of a grass fire that threatened properties in the Little River area near Geelong. About 100 hectares was burned, with 27 fire vehicles successfully containing the blaze. The largest current fire is a blaze that has covered 7,000 hectares near Horsham. Ten CFA firefighters have been treated for heat stress, with parts of western Victoria likely to hit 45C. Lightning on Tuesday night has been blamed for hundreds of fires of various sizes. Total fire bans are in place across Victoria and South Australia. In South Australia all districts apart from the Adelaide urban area have been classified as being in severe fire danger. A fire threatened Monarto Zoo, burning through 4,500 hectares of scrubland before firefighters could control it. A woman who suffered burns to her chest and arms in the fire has been released from hospital. South Australia’s CFS said that although none of the fires they were monitoring posed an immediate risk to life, matters might change as conditions deteriorated. Fuel for fire is now extremely dry and while more lightning and strong winds are forecast. A CFS spokesman said “practically every lightning strike is starting a fire” as a result of the conditions. Five firefighting aircraft from NSW, Queensland and Victoria were deployed to South Australia to add to its existing 10-strong fleet already tackling the flames. The South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, warned there was a “high potential” for the heat to cause power blackouts across both South Australia and Victoria. On Tuesday night about 35,000 people in Victoria were without power in temperatures of about 36C. The Victorian government has warned that power outages as a result of the heat could affect up to 100,000 homes and commercial premises in the state. Nicholas Kotsiras, Victoria's energy minister, said that high electricity demand was "placing a strain on our system". He said the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo), which is responsible for managing electricity demand, had advised him that "it may need to reduce the amount of electricity being supplied to Victoria". "Aemo has advised that the power outages will not affect any hospitals, nursing homes, public transport or emergency services," he said. To help with the outage, distributors have cancelled all non-essential maintenance and are assigning extra crews to complete critical works. The heatwave could set a new temperature record for Adelaide on Thursday. The South Australian capital’s all-time high mark of 46.1C is under threat, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a 46C day for the city. On Wednesday, Adelaide reached 45C while Melbourne baked in 41C heat. Meanwhile, the Tasmania Fire Service said it was dealing with nine fire incidents. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |