Home destroyed, campers stranded as spring blazes burn
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
A house has been destroyed and 1000 campers left stranded after hot and windy conditions brought surprise spring fires to Victoria, while firefighters battle 85 blazes across NSW.
Also on Monday, more emergency warnings were issued, including one for a fire on remote Flinders Island in Bass Strait.
On Sunday, an out-of-control fire burning in difficult terrain north of Maffra in Gippsland in eastern Victoria triggered evacuations for residents at Briagolong, Culloden, Moornapa and Stockdale and surrounds.
Up to 1000 campers were also stranded at Dargo, 350 kilometres east of Melbourne, after the Bairnsdale-Dargo Road was closed due to fires.
The road had reopened by Monday morning, allowing people to start returning home.
Dargo General Store owner said the town was still smoky and supplies of fuel and food were running low.
“Everyone is on the move now, so it will be back to how it normally would be on a Monday,” Shields told the ABC.
Earlier, Country Fire Authority deputy chief for the south-east Trevor Owen said temperatures have dropped and winds eased overnight. But with 5000 hectares already blackened and the potential for the Maffra blaze to make a run east, concerns remained.
“We did lose one residence in that area and we’re doing some further assessment today on the impact to any other outbuildings,” he told ABC radio.
“The fire ran back into the forest … and that’s the one we’ve been working hard on overnight and obviously yesterday as best we can.”
CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said Sunday was a “very challenging day” for firefighters. He said a weather system that moved through the region brought winds of up to 93km/h
“[That] saw those fires really take off and affect communities, particularly the Briagolong fire,” he said.
Milder conditions on Monday would allow hundreds of firefighters to try to get “the upper hand” in containing the fires.
“It will be a very short-lived reprieve. Tomorrow we are expecting a return to hot, fire conditions in East Gippsland ahead of what we expect to be a very significant rainfall event on Tuesday evening into Wednesday,” Heffernan said.
Tweet from @CFAChiefOfficer
Communications in the region have been hindered by an Apple iOS update that has prevented some residents in fire-ravaged areas from receiving alert notifications from the Emergency Vic app.
Heffernan said the CFA would turn to text alerts out until the tech issue was resolved.
“We are aware of it, we have a team of people working on it,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“But if you do have an Apple iPhone … just be mindful that you’re going to have to check that Vic Emergency app more regularly to make sure you are getting the most up-to-date information.”
Heffernan said the fires already burning across east Gippsland – a week before its official fire danger period was due to begin – should serve as a warning.
“Our message for all Victorians is what we saw in Gippsland yesterday is probably a taste of what is to come during summer,” he said.
‘Worst since Black Summer’
Meanwhile, authorities have also issued wind warnings in NSW and South Australia amid concerns strong winds could worsen fire conditions.
The NSW Rural Fire Service also issued a total fire ban for the south-west region bordering Victoria. More than 70 fires were burning across NSW on Monday, with 13 yet to be controlled as crews face a scorching start to October.
RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers feared Australia faced its worst bushfire season since 2019-20.
“We know there is community anxiety so we’ve got to balance between not scaring people but making people take it seriously so they do some simple things to make sure they look after themselves and their family,” he told 2GB.
“Clearly, fire season is here.”
- See all the latest NSW bushfire updates here
Tweet from @NSWRFS
Rogers expected an elevated fire risk for parts of NSW until Wednesday but hoped rain forecast for later in the week would help ease conditions.
Temperatures across NSW soared into the 30s on Sunday – about 14 degrees above average in some areas – ahead of a cool change on Monday.
There were total fire bans for parts of SA on Monday, with extreme fire danger warnings, and more in Western Australia’s Goldfields Midlands region.
An emergency evacuation order was issued late on Sunday in Albany, in the state’s south, as a fast-moving fire threatened properties.
Fires in Queensland were at advice level, with most advisories to avoid smoke.
-with AAP
