Otways bushfire triggers new warnings, statewide total fire ban extended

The latest advice for residents of Eildon and nearby surrounds is to take shelter, while those in Avenel, to the west of the blaze, have been told to stay alert.

Premier Jacinta Allan told Seven News that she felt sick hearing that police were concerned about the potential for looting in north-central Victoria.

“I was at the Seymour relief centre yesterday and I met with families who had lost their homes,” Allan said. “I met with a woman who showed me a photo of her home that had been burnt to the ground. These are communities that have experienced the worst of an emergency.”

The Bureau’s Sherwin-Simpson said that while temperatures were “coming down a bit” across Victoria, he was expecting heat to linger around parts of the north-east.

Corryong, which has closed its hospital and relief centre due to its proximity to the Walwa blaze, is tipped to reach 33 degrees on Sunday.

The out-of-control bushfire, 25 kilometres west of Walwa, prompted a new warning to “leave immediately” during the early hours of Sunday morning.

VicEmergency issued the alert just after midnight for Granya, Bungil, Burrowye, Walwa and surrounds, advising that conditions can become very dangerous and unpredictable. By 7am, the advice for those in Corryong, Cudgewa, Mitta Mitta, Dartmouth and surrounds was to take shelter immediately as the blaze raged.

A relief centre has been set up in Wodonga. People to the north of the fire front are being urged to leave via NSW.

There is also an out-of-control fire about six kilometres east of Kennedys Creek in the Cape Otway area, south of Colac, that is travelling in a north-easterly direction towards private property.

Residents of Carlisle River were told to take shelter immediately in the early hours of Sunday morning. Those in Kawarren, Barongarook West, Irrewillipe, Irrewillipe East, Gellibrand, Chapple Vale, Charleys Creek, Kincaid, Pile Siding and Weeaproinah have been instructed to leave immediately.

The Great Ocean Road was closed between Apollo Bay and Lavers Hill earlier on Sunday morning. The iconic road had reportedly reopened by 9.30am, but speed restrictions were in place.

Those affected by the Otways fires have been told to head to Colac, where a relief centre has been set up. There is a separate relief centre for larger animals.

One caller to ABC Radio, a resident of Wangaratta, said he and a small army of volunteers had been euthanising severely injured livestock.

They had seen “thousands” of dead sheep and “hundreds” of dead cattle, the caller said, as well as plenty of deceased kangaroos and a few deer.

Hunting and fishing businesses have donated ammunition to farmers needing to put down their livestock, while agribusinesses and Euroa MP Annabelle Cleeland have helped coordinate urgent animal feed to prevent surviving stock from starving.

The fire near Harcourt, south of Bendigo, has been 80 per cent contained, according to authorities. The nearby Calder Highway has reopened, but speed and lane restrictions apply.

Premier Allan told ABC TV that the Harcourt community, close to her family home, should continue to boil their tap water to ensure it is safe to drink.

She said the small but strong community had been “very badly hit” and had suffered some “very difficult losses”, adding: “It is another challenging day in Victoria. It is a long road ahead.”

In north-central Victoria, the Hume Freeway reopened to traffic on Saturday afternoon after a previous closure from about Seymour to Violet Town. Large chunks of the Murray Valley and Goulburn Highways in Northern Victoria remain closed, along with a section of the Wimmera Highway in the west.

There are about 40 local roads closures across the entire state.

Some V/Line services are up and running, with the Bendigo line a key exception, but authorities are warning of delays and plenty of bus replacements.

More than 100 buildings have been destroyed and around 200 interstate personnel are assisting Victorian firefighters on the ground.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Victoria and is expected to visit a bushfire control centre alongside the premier on Sunday morning.

There has been no loss of human life. Victoria Police on Sunday that they had used the force’s Air Wing to evacuate two generations of the same family – including a 92-year-old man and the household’s cat – from a remote property east of Seymour.

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Thousands of homes are still without power. Repair crews have been able to gain access to some fire-effected townships west and north of Melbourne, but many areas – like Alexandra, Avenel and Corryong north-east of Melbourne – do not yet have restoration estimate times due to the ongoing threat of fire.

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