Thousands of firefighters are fighting intense bushfires across Australia’s Victoria state, as of Saturday, January 10, with the crisis taking place in southeastern Australia, especially Victoria, the crisis is being fueled by extreme heat and dangerous weather conditions. The fires have destroyed homes, left tens of thousands of people without electricity and scorched millions of acres of bushland, the authorities calling it the worst disaster since the devastating Black Summer fires of 2019-2020.
The crisis has been playing out in southeastern Australia in the last week with a critical situation prevailing on Saturday, January 10, especially in the state of Victoria, where relief efforts are still underway to bring major fires under control.
Officials have stated that the blazes started in the middle of the week during an extreme heatwave and rapidly escalated because of dry conditions and prevailing strong winds.
By Saturday morning, authorities said more than 300,000 hectares of bushland had been burnt across the state, in more than 10 fires which are still considered to be “uncontained”.
At least 130 structures, including homes, have been destroyed and about 38,000 homes and businesses had no electricity as flames damaged important infrastructure.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan who said that thousands of firefighters were brought in across the state to fight the fires around the clock to protect homes and communities.
She recognised the magnitude of the disaster but insisted that progress was being made where conditions permitted. “Where we can, fires will be being brought under control,” she said on a media briefing by television.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned earlier on Saturday the nation that Australia faced another day of “extreme and dangerous” fire weather.
He said he had concern for the communities affected, especially Victoria where much of the state has been designated as a disaster zone. “My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities for it being a very difficult time,” he said.
One of the worst blaze is burning near Longwood about 112 kilometres north of Melbourne where, fire authorities say, around 130,000 hectares of bushland has been destroyed.
The fire has destroyed at least 30 buildings along with vineyards and precious agricultural land in a great blow to local livelihoods.
Dozens of nearby towns and rural communities have been evacuated to be safe, as have many national parks and campgrounds throughout Victoria.
Heatwave warnings are also in place for large portions of the state with fire weather warnings in place for the neighbouring New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, according to the national weather forecaster.
Emergency services have advised residents to be vigilant and heed the evacuation orders and watch for some official updates as volatile condition continues to prevail.
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