Catastrophic conditions forecast as fire threat to lives and homes feared

Avalon reached 43.2 degrees on Wednesday. Melbourne baked at over 40 degrees well into the evening. Temperatures in the city were not expected to drop below 20 overnight.

Twelve aircraft and more than 100 vehicles were tackling a 1500-hectare fire in the Mount Lawson State Park near Wolwa on the Victoria-NSW border and Murray River on Wednesday evening. Among the arsenal were two large air tankers and an Ericsson sky crane, as well as 30 bulldozers building more than 60 kilometres of control lines.

The two large air tankers also headed south to join in the scramble to suppress a 215-hectare fire near Longwood off the Hume Freeway near Euroa, 160 kilometres north-east of Melbourne.

Residents in communities near both fires were given “leave now” warnings on Wednesday.

Fire Rescue Victoria also tackled a suspicious grassfire in Greenvale in Melbourne’s north. The blaze was extinguished before it reached the fence of a new residential estate. Police are investigating.

Smaller grass fires near Maryborough and Mangalore West near Strathbogie were also burning under control on Wednesday evening.

While Melbourne and areas south of the Great Diving Range will get a slight reprieve on Thursday with a southerly change bringing the mercury back down to about 30 degrees, the north of the state will roast relentlessly at over 40 degrees.

Thursday was declared a Total Fire Ban day for the Mallee (Mildura and Swan Hill areas), northern country (Echuca, Shepparton and Bendigo area), north central (Seymour, Castlemaine and Maryborough area) and north-east (Wangaratta, Wodonga). The ban means no fires can be lit in the open air and prohibits activities including barbecuing, welding and grinding.

Although a Total Fire Ban had not yet been declared for Friday, Emergency Commissioner Tim Wiebusch foreshadowed it was likely, saying “we will have the whole state at a very high risk of extreme fire danger”.

“Friday is one of those days that we’ve not seen for some time,” he said. “It’s going to be a very difficult and challenging day.”

Campers were warned they could face jail time for lighting any campfires over the coming days – particularly Friday.

“It’s really hot out there; you probably don’t need a campfire,” said Hardman.

“If it’s a Total Fire Ban day, then it’s illegal to have a campfire. And there are very, very serious penalties if you do have a campfire, $47,000 fines and up to two years in prison.

“The reason those penalties are so high is that an escaped campfire can lead to death or loss of livelihood for Victorians. So do not be reckless. Do not be irresponsible. If you light a fire, you own it, and you’ll be accountable for it.”

The Bureau of Meteorology said the ominous forecasts were a result of several days of back-to-back roasting temperatures which would make the landscape tinder dry, increasing northerly winds and the possibility of lightning strikes as part of dry thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday.

“That might start fires, and then in this environment, it makes them very hard to control,” senior meteorologist Briony Macpherson said.

Every one of Melbourne’s 16 train lines experienced cancellations or delays by 5pm on Wednesday. A sprinkler system malfunction in the newly opened West Gate Tunnel caused city-bound lanes to close for at least four hours in the afternoon.

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