Australia: More than 30,000 people urged to evacuate amid fire risk, ‘catastrophic’ conditions

Tens of thousands of residents were asked to evacuate as firefighters in Australia continued to battle a massive bushfire amid an intense heatwave that authorities said could further spread the blaze in Victoria as it faces the worst fire conditions seen in recent years.

Thousands urged to evacuate

More than 30,000 residents were urged to evacuate their homes by Wednesday (Feb 28) morning after officials identified a potential fire impact zone that covers several rural towns.

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The authorities in the Australian state issued an emergency warning for a grass fire located at Kleins Road, Dereel, on Wednesday evening asking residents to “Leave Immediately” in a post on X.

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Victoria emergency services, in an update, said strong winds have the potential to make fire fighting difficult and asked residents not to wait “until the bushfire spreads closer before moving to a safer location.”

It added, “The fire could grow significantly and may become uncontrollable.”

As of 4:09 pm (local time) towns of Bayindeen, Ben Nevis, Chute, Elmhurst, Eversley, Glenlogie, Mount Cole, Mount Lonarch, and Raglan were declared “not safe to return”.

Situation in Victoria

“Today will be a very challenging day for firefighters,” Jason Heffernan, chief officer at Victoria fire department told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He added, “Today is one of those days when communities may need to take immediate action at very short notice.”

Hundreds of firefighters continued to battle a massive blaze near the city of Ballarat. So far, the blaze which has been burning since last Thursday (Feb 22) has destroyed six houses, killed livestock, and burned more than 200 square kilometres.

'Catastrophic conditions'

According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), hot, dry, and windy conditions have worsened creating “extreme to catastrophic fire dangers” in parts of Victoria and South Australia. Several thunderstorms are also forecast in the region which would lead to dry lightning.

The Victoria fire department chief warned that dry lightning could spark new fires while strong winds forecast could spread the existing one near Ballarat and urged people to reconsider any decision to stay back to protect their homes.

Catastrophic conditions have been forecast for Victoria’s Wimmera region as half of the state was placed under an extreme fire danger rating.

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“Extreme fire dangers are coming to fruition, and in fact we’re currently seeing catastrophic conditions in Casterdon, Hamilton and Kanagulk in the Wimmera weather district,” said Heffernan.

Victorian State Control Centre spokesperson, Luke Hegarty, told the ABC that authorities were on high alert, late Wednesday afternoon as cloud cover lifted, temperatures rose and winds picked up speed.

Temperatures spiked across several towns in Victoria, on Wednesday afternoon. Walpeup, in north-west Victoria, hit 43.5 degrees Celsius and Hopetoun, 400 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, reached 42.6 degrees Celsius, according to the BoM.

(With inputs from agencies)