Victoria bushfire crisis: Three people missing found safe, 130 structures lost as state of disaster declared

Victoria Police said emergency services discovered the man, thought to be in his 60s, inside his vehicle on his property at around 4.45pm on Friday. Detectives are investigating the circumstances and will prepare a report for the coroner.

“At this early stage, the circumstances surrounding the man’s death are unknown however the death is not believed to be directly related to the nearby fire,” they said.

“Local detectives, who weren’t able to attend the scene immediately due to the nearby fires, attended the scene Friday evening once the immediate area was deemed safe.

“The property the vehicle was found in was not impacted by fire.”

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and emergency officials are providing an update on the state’s worsening conditions.

She said there are currently 19 emergency warnings and a further 16 watch and act alerts in place, particularly around Walwa, Longwood, Wonnangatta and Ravenswood.

More than 300,000 hectares of land are believed to have been burned, while about 38,000 homes and businesses remain without power.

Ms Allan said once fires are brought under control, impact assessment teams will begin surveying the damage, with updates to follow as information becomes available.

Australia’s southeast will bear the brunt of a persistent heatwave as the threat of more blazes breaking out remains extreme.

The heatwave will be felt sharply in NSW on Saturday, with a sweltering 43C forecast for Sydney and even higher in its western suburbs, while temperatures in Victoria drop by half.

Central and western NSW will also sweat it out, with Bourke forecast to reach 42C and Dubbo up to 40C.

Temperatures in Canberra are forecast to reach 37C.

The Bureau of Meteorology said damaging winds were expected to develop over parts of southeast NSW on Saturday morning.

West to northwesterly winds are likely to strengthen ahead of a trough that will move through the southeast of the state on Sunday.

The Rural Fire Service has declared a total fire ban for NSW and the ACT due to hot, dry and windy conditions.

Fire danger is rated at extreme in five regions including Sydney.

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Mr Albanese said he was notified by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan after 10pm on Friday that a state of disaster had been declared across 18 local government areas.

Speaking from the National Emergency Management Agency in Canberra during a live interview with ABC News, the Prime Minister expressed his sympathy for those affected.

“My thoughts are with the residents of these communities at this very difficult time,” Mr Albanese said.

“I want to specifically send my thoughts to those Victorians who have had the devastating news that they’ve lost their homes over the last 24 hours.

“The Victorian Government, in triggering that state of disaster, gives them powers to take action. To make sure that more people aren’t put into dangerous situations, whether they be members of the population or indeed those volunteers and emergency service workers.

“The ADF have been requested to provide accommodation support for the Victorian Country Fire Service.

“Once again we see our Defence Force personnel providing that support, both through personnel but also through infrastructure.

“This includes access and use of Gaza Ridge Barracks in South Bandiana and potentially other facilities in the state if required.”

She said impact assessment teams would move into fire-ravaged areas to determine the level of destruction, after many regions were too dangerous to access on Friday.

Ms Allan said the state of emergency would strengthen efforts on the ground.

“The key focus for the declaration was to give support to emergency services to protect lives,” she told the ABC.

“It provides additional support to the emergency services to evacuate people in places where the fire has become very dangerous and unsafe, but given the situation on the ground will remain dangerous once the front passes, it provides support for our emergency services for the movement of people in and out of fire affected communities.

“This is solely focused on protecting Victorian lives and also giving every support possible to our emergency services who are out there on the frontline.”

Ms Allan said there were 36 active fires burning on Saturday, and that major property losses were expected as conditions continued to test crews and communities.

“And to give you a sense of just how concerning and dangerous these fires are, there is something like 19 emergency warning alerts that have been issued for different locations, advising people to leave or evacuate immediately,” she told the ABC.

“So it gives you a sense of just how ongoing the difficulty, the danger that these fire fronts face over the course of today.

“Yesterday was an extremely hot and windy day. Today, though, continues to have a lot of wind and also in northern parts of the state, it continues to be quite hot.

“So, it is another difficult day for the thousands of firefighters who are out there right now, both fighting the fires, protecting lives, and it continues to be a difficult day.”

Ms Allan said the government was ready to assist those impacted, with assessments of property damage to begin once it was safe for officials to enter affected zones.

Multiple take shelter now warnings remain in place across Victoria as dangerous fire conditions continue.

The warnings apply to the following communities:

Longwood fire:

Caveat, Creightons Creek, Dropmore, Gobur, Gooram, Highlands, Kanumbra, Kelvin View, Locksley, Longwood, Longwood East, Ruffy, Strathbogie, Tarcombe, Terip Terip, Upton Hill, Acheron, Limestone, Whanregarwen, Yea, Break O’Day, Buxton, Devlin Bridge, Flowerdale, Glenburn, Rubicon, Taggerty, Thornton, Toolangi, Woodbourne, Cathkin, Caveat, Ghin Ghin, Highlands, Kanumbra, Killingworth, Koriella, Molesworth, Whanregarwen, Yarck, Alexandra, Devils River, Fawcett, Lake Eildon, Maintongoon, Acheron, Devils River, Eildon, Taylor Bay, Thornton, Ancona, Fawcett, Gooram, Merton, Strathbogie, Strathbogie South, Woodfield.

Walwa fire:

Colac Colac and Nariel Valley, Darbyshire, Koetong, Shelley, Biggara, Corryong, Cudgewa, Pine Mountain, Thowgla, Thowgla Valley, Tintaldra, Tom Groggin, Towong, Beetoomba, Berringama, Lucyvale.

Ravenswood fire:

Barkers Creek, Ravenswood South, Walmer, Faraday, Harcourt, Harcourt North.

People in these areas have been told it is too late to leave and must shelter indoors immediately.

Stay up to date with the latest emergency information on the ​VicEmergency website​.

Three firefighters have been taken to hospital as crews continue to battle blazes across Victoria and New South Wales.

CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan confirmed two CFA members and one NSW fire crew member had been hospitalised. It was previously reported on Friday that one CFA member suffered a significant hand injury.

Speaking to Sunrise on Saturday morning, Mr Heffernan said another CFA member sustained a head injury and was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

A NSW firefighter was also airlifted to a Melbourne hospital after requiring medical assistance due to a pre-existing medical condition, Mr Heffernan said.

“Again, he’s in a stable and okay situation and in good spirits,” he said.

Firefighters are bracing for another tough day battling blazes across Victoria, with westerly winds forecast to intensify fire conditions.

CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said the winds were likely to cause the greatest concern in the state’s southwest, particularly through the Otways and Great Ocean Road region.

“Significant westerly winds will occur in the area from about 9am onwards,” he told Sunrise on Saturday morning.

“It has been a very challenging evening actually, and will be a challenging day for firefighters across the state of Victoria,” Mr Heffernan said.

He added that lightning activity overnight had sparked more fires. “(There was) some 24,000 lightning strikes across the state in the last 24 hours, of which unfortunately, 4500 of them made landfall which did see even more fires start, particularly in the Otways and other areas across Victoria.”

Victoria is under a total fire ban as the state battles an escalating bushfire crisis that has destroyed at least 10 homes, prompted evacuations and razed more than 50,000 hectares of bushland.

A state of disaster was declared in 18 local government areas as well as the Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, Premier Jacinta Allan announced overnight, while authorities in Wahring warned that some communities had been “completely obliterated”.

She said the declaration was in response to danger to life or property in the affected areas and “sends a clear message to those who have been advised to leave: if you can, you must”.

“Tonight, I declared a State of Disaster, which gives our authorities additional powers to confront an emergency of extraordinary scale and danger. It’s all about one thing: protecting Victorian lives. And it sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave - go,” Ms Allan said.

18 local government areas under state of disaster:

• Alpine Shire
• Ararat Rural City
• Colac Otway Shire
• Corangamite Shire
• East Gippsland Shire
• Golden Plains Shire
• Greater Bendigo City
• Horsham Rural City
• Lake Mountain Alpine Resort (Unincorporated)
• Mansfield Shire
• Mildura Rural City
• Mitchell Shire
• Moira Shire
• Mount Alexander Shire
• Murrindindi Shire
• Pyrenees Shire
• Strathbogie Shire
• Towong Shire
• Wellington Shire

One person is reportedly dead and three people remain missing in the dozens of fires burning on Friday amid a severe heatwave, in what state authorities described as the worst bushfires since the 2019-2020 Black Summer blazes.

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