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Victorian bushfires: Homes lost, four missing

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The military will be brought in to help local emergency services as Victoria fights devastating bushfires in the East Gippsland region, with thousands of people seeking evacuation and four people unaccounted for.

More than 200,000 hectares of land is being ravaged by fire.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Tuesday afternoon he would respond to Premier Daniel Andrews’ earlier plea for military assistance, and said the call for extra firefighters would extend as far as the US and Canada, and are expected to arrive as soon as a weeks’ time.

“(The) federal government, especially our defence forces, are working together with the Victorian Government to respond to Victorian bushfires,” Mr Morrison wrote on Twitter.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said people in East Gippsland confirmed 24 properties at Buchan and 19 at Sarsfield had been destroyed in the blaze. Eight emergency alerts remain in place.

Mr Cripps confirmed four people remained unaccounted for, and said emergency services were now recruiting helicopters to airdrop food and other goods to affected, isolated centres. The Princes Highway remains closed.

He said Australian Defence Force personnel would be on the ground in East Gippsland and north-east Victoria on Wednesday. They will be tasked with undertaking initial impact assessments, and flying in food and emergency supplies.

CFA chief officer Steve Warrington confirmed the fire front had passed the town of Mallacoota, which was one of the main concerns for loss of life and property.

“The wind change has gone through and it’s now bypassed that town,” Mr Warrington said at the press conference.

“I understand there was a cheer public cheer down at the jetty when that was announced.

“But having said that – as we said before – there are still active fires in that area and they’re still actively extinguishing houses that have burnt down on the outskirts of Mallacoota. That work will continue.”

Barriers continue

Much of the area is made up of isolated communities, which makes it difficult to spread the latest information, Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said.

Power and NBN remains inaccessible to thousands of properties, Ms Neville said.

She said a specialised task force had been established to respond to urgent and recovery needs for the affected regions.

“… In order to make sure that we’ve got quick decision-making and ability to work through red tape and the right people at the table, we’ve established a bushfire response and recovery task force, led by Andrew Crisp, who will report directly to me,” Ms Neville said.

“The idea of this is to make sure that there are absolutely no barriers, no red tape, no bureaucracy that gets in the way of  us being able to firstly meet those immediate needs whilst still managing the fire risk, and secondly being able to then move into the broader response and relief side.”

However, as one danger passes, another appears. Shortly before the press conference, a watch and act alert was issued for Victoria’s Alpine Region, affecting Mount Bulla, Mount Hotham, Mount Buffalo and Jamieson.

“That will cause some concern for us moving forward,” Mr Warrington said. 

Seven emergency warnings, the highest alert, remain in place across the region, with another in place for a fire straddling the northeast Victoria-NSW border at Corryong/Walwa.

Thousands of people are seeking support at about a dozen relief centres in the state.

Milder weather is expected over the next 24 hours, giving firefighters some reprieve, but Mr Cripps said people must remain vigilant.

“No one can afford to relax in that part of the state,” Mr Crisp said.

Unbelievable conditions

On Tuesday morning, a clothing brand Cubin’ posted a harrowing video to Facebook that showed the apocalyptic-like conditions in the area.

The footage shows a boat of people who have taken to the water in a bid to escape the fires. An hour later, further footage posted to the page shows the crew has returned to land and were trying to defend their and their neighbours’ homes.

Despite the best efforts from fire crews and residents, it does appear properties have been destroyed. Because the fires are still impacting the area, it’s unknown just how widespread the damage is.

There were reports on social media that about noon, an explosion was heard from the Mallacoota town centre, thought to be anything from left behind gas cylinders to the town petrol station exploding.

CFA incident controller for the Mallacoota fire Ben Rankin told ABC radio the fires could be Gippsland’s answer to the Black Saturday fires.

“Significant fire has moved into [Mallacoota and Genoa] earlier this morning and there has been significant impact there, I believe there have been quite a number of houses impacted and private property burnt,” Mr Rankin said on Tuesday afternoon.

While conditions have eased,  authorities are still urging people to activate and review their bushfire survival plans.

-with agencies

The post Victorian bushfires: Homes lost, four missing appeared first on The New Daily.


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