Authorities slam bushfire ‘tourists’ as Victorian emergency continues

“Tourists” travelling to towns ripped apart by bushfires to gawk at the devastation have been slammed by authorities, with a stern warning to stay away from disaster zones.

Fierce blazes have torn through around 350,000 hectares of land in Victoria over several days, causing significant damage to dozens of towns and destroying more than 300 structures.

As of 2pm Sunday, there are 32 active bushfires across the state and 15 emergency warnings advising people to leave their communities.

Speaking on Sunday, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan took aim at people travelling to see towns that have been razed to the ground by the bushfires, hitting rubbernecks with a simple message: “Stay away.”

“It is wrong to go into these fire grounds where it’s unsafe and you don’t belong there, and you’ll be dealt with by Victoria Police,” she said.

That message was echoed by emergency management commissioner Tim Weibusch.

“Disappointingly, in the last 24 hours we’ve started to see some tourists or spectators heading into some of our fire-impacted zones,” he said on Sunday.

“I can’t emphasise enough, the state of disaster is now in place for 18 local government areas - where those fire-impacted zones appear on the Vic Emergency website, they are the areas that we do not expect to see visitors.

“Our clear message is (that) in the fire-impacted zones, these are not places for visitors, spectators, tourists - these are places for our emergency services, and when safe to do so, local residents.”

Warning as new threat looms

Residents are being warned a cool change on Sunday will not necessarily bring relief to parts of Victoria devastated by bushfires, with erratic winds expected to complicate firefighting efforts.

Thousands of residents are currently impacted by 15 emergency warnings related to three fires raging in different parts of the state.

Victorians are being warned they are not out of the woods yet, despite a drop in temperature slowing the spread of fires “for now”.

“Strong south-westerly winds may cause the situation to change at any time,” a Vic Emergency warning reads.

The Bureau of Meteorology has echoed the concerns about the wind, with meteorologist Dean Narramore warning of devastating impacts as the wind pushes fires north.

“A number of fires are already out of control and still going, so even light to moderate winds can cause some big issues there,” he told the ABC on Sunday morning.

“Some of those large fires, particularly the Longwood fire and the north-east Victoria fire, they are now large enough to almost create their own weather as well.

“So you can get localised areas of strong and gusty winds in and around the fires as well, regardless of what the background weather is doing.”

Emergency warnings in place

There are six emergency warnings in place surrounding the Longwood fire, with residents told they need to seek shelter immediately.

It is too late to leave for residents in: Caveat, Creightons Creek, Dropmore, Gobur, Gooram, Highlands, Kanumbra, Kelvin View, Longwood East, Merton, Old Longwood, Ruffy, Tarcombe, Terip Terip, Upton Hill, Whiteheads Creek, Ancona, Merton, Strathbogie, Strathbogie South, Woodfield, Cathkin, Ghin Ghin, Highlands, Killingworth, Koriella, Molesworth, Whanregarwen, Yarck, Alexandra, Bonnie Doon, Devils River, Fawcett, Howes Creek, Kanumbra, Lake Eildon, Maindample, Maintongoon, Taylor Bay, Woodfield, Acheron, Alexandra, Limestone, Murrindindi, and Whanregarwen.

The Longwood fire has already burnt through 144,000 hectares of land, with even more to go up in flames on Sunday.

Similar warnings are in place for those around the fire burning near Walwa in the state’s northeast.

Take shelter warnings are in place for: Nariel Valley, Cudgewa, Corryong, Towong, Thowgla Valley, Biggara, Tallangatta Valley, Bullioh, Koetong, Shelley, Berrignama, Lucyvale and surrounds.

“Conditions can become very dangerous and unpredictable,” the warning reads.

“If you are in danger, you need to act immediately to survive. The safest option is to stay close to shelter.”

It is too late to leave for those near an out-of-control bushfire at Carlisle River in the Otoways.

“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.

“The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.

“Leaving now would be deadly.”

Authorities are pleading for residents further away from the blaze to leave immediately before conditions become too dangerous.

“Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay,” the warning reads.

People in Gellibrand, Kaawarren Chapple Vale, Charleys Creek, Kincaid, Pile Siding, or Weeaproinah should head toward Colac on the Colac-Lavers Hill Road.

Fire ban declared for Monday

A Total Fire Ban has been declared for Victoria’s North East and North Central districts for Monday, as firefighters continue to battle significant blazes across the landscape despite milder conditions.

Light east to south-easterly winds are forecast, but CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said the ban was necessary due to ongoing fire activity.

“Despite conditions easing we still need to mitigate all the risk we can so our focus can stay on the fires we already have in these districts,” Mr Heffernan said, urging residents to comply with the strict restrictions.

The ban, in place from 12.01am to 11.59pm, prohibits lighting or maintaining any fires in the open air.

Devastation revealed

New aerial footage has revealed the extent of the damage caused by flames as they rage through town after town.

The video, captured by Victoria Police’s Air Wing unit, shows buildings that have been left as piles of rubble after the bushfires passed through.

The property in the video has had multiple buildings razed, with similar scenes seen earlier in the week at Ruffy.

Fire swept through the town on Friday, leaving the main street to “look like a bomb’s gone off” according to the local CFA chief.

Two community centres were completely destroyed by the blaze, with one reduced to a smouldering pile of rubble while the other was left an empty shell.

Over 300 buildings have been lost across Victoria, with 150 structures lost in the Longwood fire alone.

In Ravenswood and Harcourt, 47 homes and three businesses have been lost while in Natimuk there have been 30 homes and 40 sheds destroyed by flames.

“But that is a conservative number, and we are expecting there could be more,” he said on Saturday.

Emergency relief bolstered

The federal and state governments have announced fresh disaster assistance.

In a joint press conference with Anthony Albanese, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said $19.5 million was earmarked for emergency relief payments.

Stressing that it the payments were for “immediate support”, Ms Allan said “the package has been shaped by what we’ve been hearing on the ground over the last couple of days, and it’s why it focuses on the personal hardship payments, emergency accommodation and also to support for livestock as well”.

Meanwhile, separate federally funded disaster recovery payments will be available for those affected in Barkers Creek, Harcourt, Harcourt North, Longwood, Longwood East, Natimuk, Ravenswood South, Ruffy and Sutton Grange.

They include one-off $1000 payments for adults and $400 payments per child.

“My message to Victorians is pretty simple we’ve got your back, not just during this crisis but through the recovery as well,” Mr Albanese said.

Three rescued from shipping container

Three people have been air lifted to safety in the nick of time as their property succumbed to flames on Saturday.

Two women, aged 59 and 82, and a 92-year-old man had been trying to fight the Longwood blaze on their isolated property near Caveat when flames swept through the area from Wednesday.

The family home was lost to the blaze, leaving the trio to sleep in their car on Friday night before hunkering down at a shipping container on the property.

With fires closing in, roads cut off, and concerns for the health of her mother and uncle, the younger woman called for help at 7am on Saturday.

Victoria Police’s air wing arrived just one and a half hours later to rescue the trio and their cat, with the 82-year-old woman suffering burns to her hands.

“By no means do we encourage people to shelter in shipping containers however on this occasion all I can say is this family is extremely lucky,” Air Wing tactical flight officer Brittany Smith said.

“It was good we were able to get in and get them out. We were glad we could provide assistance when they needed us.”

Bushfire ruins town’s drinking water

Residents returning to Harcourt, which was impacted by the Longwood fire, are under another threat after the fires have impacted the drinking supply.

Water authorities have warned that the tap water is not safe to drink and that boiling the water will not get rid of contaminants.

Water mains burst as the town was hit by the fire, causing contaminated water to likely enter the network.

Crews are unable to access the burst mains but are working to provide alternative water supply for the town.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen said the town had been particularly “hard hit” by the blaze.

“It’s a small community. It’s a strong community, but it has been really badly-hit by these fires. It’s impacting the drinking water,” she said.