Victoria fires as it happened: Property, livestock lost as winds push bushfire north toward Elmhurst

A resident of a small western Victorian farming community battling a bushfire that started yesterday says she has been told at least two homes have been lost on a single road nearby.

Brooke, who lives in Ballyrogan and called into radio station 3AW moments ago, said her husband had taken the couple’s makeshift firefighting truck north of their home to battle the uncontrolled fire raging near Mount Cole.

“He told me that, from just the one particular section of road that he was on, there was definitely two homes gone,” Brooke said, adding many other farm sheds had been destroyed in the small part of the fire her husband encountered.

So far, authorities have only officially confirmed one home has been lost, but they expect that number to rise.

The small rural community of Ballyrogan is further south of the main fire zone and the Western Highway.

Brooke said she was “pretty confident” her home was now safe, but winds were still strong.

Good afternoon.

Thanks for your company. My name is Lachlan Abbott, and I’ll be helming this bushfire blog into the night after Alex Crowe did so this morning.

As of 3pm, the following fire alerts were active across Victoria:

• Emergency warning – Leave immediately – issued for Amphitheatre, Chute, Elmhurst, Eversley, Glenlofty, Glenlogie, Glenpatrick, Glenshee, Green Hill Creek, Landsborough, Mount Cole, Mount Lonarch and Nowhere Creek.
• Emergency warning – Leave immediately – issued for Bayindeen, Beaufort, Ben Nevis, Chute, Eversley, Glenlogie, Main Lead, Middle Creek, Mount Cole, Mount Cole Creek, Mount Lonarch, Raglan, Warrak and Waterloo.
• Advice – Stay informed – issued for Amherst, Avoca, Bung Bong, Burnbank, Caralulup, Crowlands, Ercildoune, Evansford, Frenchmans, Glenbrae, Homebush, Lamplough, Langi Kal Kal, Lexton, Lillicur, Percydale, Rathscar West, Riversdale, Rosyth, Stony Creek, Talbot, Tanwood, Trawalla, Warrenmang and Waubra.
• Advice – Stay informed (structure fire) – issued for Bangholme, Dandenong, Dandenong South, Keysborough.

The two emergency alerts and the first advice message are all connected to the out-of-control bushfire raging between Mount Cole and Raglan in the Pyrenees Ranges just northwest of Beaufort in western Victoria.

Hundreds of firefighters and dozens of aircraft are still battling the blaze as a wind change that hit last night continues to push it northeast towards Elmhurst and Amphitheatre.

These towns are now the focus of the firefighting effort.

Earlier today, Victoria’s emergency commissioner Rick Nugent confirmed at least one home has been lost, but aerial support had saved up to 50 properties overnight. Authorities also suspect more houses have been destroyed, but haven’t officially confirmed this.

At relief centres in the area, at least a dozen people went to a centre in Ararat while 18 stayed overnight in Wendouree, with a further 50 choosing to sleep outside the building in caravans and cars with their pets.

The fire danger is lower today, but CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said south-westerly wind gusts almost hit 70 km/h this morning. The wind fanning the flames is expected to drop to about 30 km/h this afternoon.

Worryingly, the CFA chief said this coming Wednesday was already shaping as another dangerous day for fire conditions. If the fire danger rating is eventually formally declared as “catastrophic” on Wednesday, that would be just the second time the rating has been issued since the Black Summer of 2019/20.

The first time was only just over a week ago on Tuesday, February 13 when a fire destroyed homes near the Grampians and storms cut power and damaged homes in Victoria’s east.

A CFA captain called in to battle fires west of Ballarat yesterday has described the blaze as a “monster” as he and his team recover from confronting the catastrophic fires.

Daylesford CFA captain Glenn Webster told The Age that the flames his team confronted on Thursday were taller than trees.

“It was a monster,” he said. “Screaming winds, flames taller than trees and moving so fast.

“It’s hard to describe to anyone who has not been in a fire like that what it’s like.”

He also commended fire crews for their bravery in the face of the blaze.

“The bravery of all the crews yesterday and last night cannot be overstated as fires swept over and around us and then changed directions in the swirling winds created by the mountains,” he said.

His strike team, deployed to battle the blaze from the Daylesford area, was released late last night and got home safely.

Readers have shared images of the bushfire near their properties and the aftermath of the blaze which had spread to 11,000 hectares by Friday.

Kaylah shared this image her mother took from her property in Buangor about 2pm on Thursday. The second photo from Kaylah shows the impact of the fire.

“The fire went through there yesterday and some structures, including a shed, burnt down, but family and friends defended the house and it was spared,” she said.

Lower temperatures across the state have eased conditions, however the fire near Beaufort is continuing to burn out of control.

Emergency services have advised communities they are not out of danger yet, as winds shift the fire front north-east towards Elmhurst, Amphitheatre and surrounding areas.

Anxious residents in western Victoria have been told it could be days before they can return to their homes, as firefighters battle an out-of-control bushfire.

Read more on Thursday’s fire here.

The Education Department has advised of a number of schools and early learning centres that have been closed today as a result of the fires.

Early childhood services

The department is aware of the following closures:

• Beaufort Early Childhood Centre, Beaufort
• Trawalla-Beaufort OSHClub, Trawalla
• Buangor Primary School Council, Buangor
• Avoca OSHClub, Avoca
• Waubra Primary School, Waubra

Schools

The department is aware of the following disruptions:

• Amphitheatre Primary School, Amphitheatre - closed
• Buangor Primary School, Buangor - closed
• Beaufort Primary School, Beaufort - site closed. School temporarily relocating to Mt Rowan Secondary College
• Beaufort Secondary School, Beaufort - site closed. School temporarily relocating to Mt Rowan Secondary College
• Trawalla Primary School, Trawalla - site closed. School temporarily relocating to Mt Rowan Secondary College
• Pomonal Primary School, Pomonal - site closed. School temporarily relocating to Stawell West Primary School, Stawell

Families in affected areas should check the Education Department website for any disruptions happening next week.

Two bushfires that flared in Tasmania’s remote highlands on a day of severe heat may have been deliberately lit.

Emergency crews were battling a blaze at Brady’s Lake in the Central Highlands in cooler weather on Friday after fires in the area sparked an emergency evacuation order on Thursday.

Temperatures peaked in the mid-30s in Tasmania on Thursday, prompting a fire ban across the state’s south.

The Brady’s Lake fire, near the community of Dee, as well as one at Snake Tier, have been referred to police for criminal investigation.

The cause of three other nearby fires is being probed by the Tasmania Fire Service.

“This is being taken extremely seriously and we’re urging anyone with information to come forward,” Tasmania Police commander Jason Elmer said.

A dozen aircraft and 27 ground crews were fighting the Brady’s Lake fire on Thursday.

Fire service deputy chief officer Matt Lowe said although temperatures had dropped, high fire danger ratings remained in place across much of the state.

Authorities are assessing whether any properties have been damaged.

An evacuation centre was opened in New Norfolk on Thursday night, with about 80 people also leaving Ouse and heading to Gretna.

A watch and act alert remained in place for the Central Highlands fires, with residents told to prepare to leave if conditions worsen.

AAP

Robert Palmby, 78, is one of hundreds of people who has faced a tense morning after the Bayindeen Rocky Road bushfire began heading north-east towards Amphitheatre and Lexton on Friday.

Palmby owns a house on 45 acres of land on Sunraysia Highway. He said he was the only one staying on at the property.

“Most of my family have evacuated, but I’m keeping an eye on things and [am]ready to go if I have to,” he said.

The 78-year-old also has about 50 sheep on his property and is hopeful the fire will not reach Lexton.

“It got a lot closer in 2019, the whole town evacuated the place,” he said on Friday morning. “It’s not too bad at the present time because the conditions have changed since yesterday.”

Palmby said Lexton town centre was quiet and that other residents were waiting to hear advice from the local authorities.

“My family are contacting me all the time to see what’s happening, and other people are contacting me too,” he said.

An alert to stay informed replaced the watch and act warning issued for the Lexton region at 12.26pm.

Horticulturalist Rob Pelletier has described a hairy night defending his property near Beaufort, which is home to more than 400 varieties of heritage and modern fruit trees.

Spot fires hit his farm, where he runs the family business Heritage Fruit Trees, when the wind changed last night.

“They just jumped over each other and just engulfed our property… It’s not like you’re watching a grass fire slowly move across the paddock in the distance. You just slightly see some smoke, and then suddenly you see flames,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

“We had walls of flames coming towards us. We were very fortunate, we had two CFA trucks parked on the property and a lot of firefighting activity.”

His home was saved, but some of his trees were badly damaged.

“The bottom line for us – our house, sheds, equipment have all been saved. Our production areas where we’ve got all young fruit trees, got two years of crops in the ground, that all looks pretty good… but much of the rest of the property was burnt.”