Authorities have been evacuating people from areas in central and western Victoria as dangerous fire conditions grip several states across the south-east.
Damaging winds were due to fan extreme fire danger on Thursday as hot and dry weather envelops large parts of Victoria, south-west New South Wales and much of eastern South Australia.
Early on Thursday afternoon, Victoria state control centre spokesperson Luke Hegarty said the extreme fire conditions forecast were already starting to develop, with the potential for strong, gusty winds to start new fires, and spread existing ones towards communities not currently subject to warnings.
“This is a critical part of the day. If you don’t need to travel, please postpone your plans,” he said.
“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, and 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.”
At 11am AEDT, there were several fires burning in Victoria, including Grampians national park, Bullengarook, Creswick and at the Gurdies. Authorities expected those fires to grow on Thursday.
Hegarty urged residents in those areas to leave during the morning to protect themselves and their families.
“You need to leave those areas. Move to somewhere else, somewhere safe. That is the way to protect yourself and your family.”
He said all residents in Victoria should be checking their fire plan, and to be prepared if a fire starts nearby.
“Know what you’re going to do if a fire starts. And if you’re planning on traveling today, reconsider your need to travel. This is not a day to be outside. This is not a day to be undertaking any sort of travel unless absolutely necessary.”
Victoria is preparing to face the most dangerous fire conditions since the 2019–20 Black Summer. Gusty winds were expected for much of the day, as well as on Friday and Saturday, exacerbating fire dangers across the state.
Temperatures were set to reach the high 30s and into the 40s for much of Victoria and inland Australia, with the central western Queensland town of Birdsville forecast to hit 47C.
Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, took to X with a blunt message:
“The message couldn’t be clearer: today’s a day of total fire ban across Victoria. Don’t be a dickhead. No fires to be lit.”
Thursday’s conditions were expected to be “the worst since the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfire season”, Allan said.
Gusts of up to 100km/h are strong enough to bring down trees and power lines and cause minor power outages, the Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Dean Narramore said.
A high-pressure trough which brought temperatures in the high 30s to South Australia on Christmas Day is slowly trekking across the border to Victoria.
All but one region of Victoria was set to face extreme fire risk on Thursday. A statewide fire ban remained in place.
Total fire bans were also declared for South Australia’s mid north, Riverland, Murraylands, upper south east and lower south east regions.
The dangerous conditions could further fuel an out-of-control bushfire in Victoria’s Grampians national park which has been burning for days, covering more than 40,000 hectares.
Residents in the Grampians towns of Bornes Hill, Moyston and Pomonal were also ordered to leave on Wednesday as the blaze raced towards them.
Narramore said the combination of strong winds, high temperatures and dry air made for dangerous fire activity.
“Any fire that does get going or already is ongoing around the Grampians will likely be uncontrollable and uncontainable, leading to dangerous and erratic fire behaviour,” he said.
Firefighters from multiple states deployed to help their Victorian counterparts as crews worked to secure containment lines on Boxing Day.
Power provider AusNet warned customers that power cuts could be triggered to prevent bushfires from starting and outages could last longer to ensure safety.
A cool change was expected to wash over Victoria on Thursday night, as hot, dry and windy conditions pushed into parts of central north-eastern NSW, bringing extreme fire danger on Friday.
In South Australia on Thursday afternoon, a cool change was sweeping through the state earlier than expected.
Ann Letcher, state duty commander for the Country Fire Service (CFS), said while the cooler temperatures brought relief after a hot Christmas day and night, 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,” she said.
Letcher said South Australia hadn’t seen a large number of incidents on Thursday, and a blaze that started yesterday in northern Adelaide was now mostly extinguished, but she reminded people to remain prepared.
The CFS announced on Thursday morning a total fire ban for five regions: the Murrayland, Riverland, Mid North, as well as the upper and lower South East.
The CFS warned of “extreme conditions”, with temperatures remaining high across the state, particularly along the border with Victoria.
Australia’s land surface has warmed by 1.5C since 1910, the Bureau of Meteorology announced early this year, with the climate crisis fuelling more dangerous bushfire conditions due to increased temperatures and more frequent dry conditions.
