A bushfire burning in Victoria’s far south-west has reached emergency level, with authorities warning residents to evacuate immediately.
Fire crews have described the blaze in the Little Desert National Park, about 375 kilometres west of Melbourne, as “active and dynamic”.
Residents living in Dimboola have been advised to move to a safer location away from the fire.
Australian Authorities had initially put a ban on public fire in Victoria State as heatwave increased the risk of bushfire in Southeast Australia.
In 2019-2020 it was a “Black Summer” that saw fires destroy an area the size of Turkey, killing 33 people and billions of animals.
On Monday, the nation’s weather forecaster warned that the temperature could reach 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in Victoria’s capital Melbourne, more than 14 C above the city’s mean maximum temperature for January.
Authorities rated the fire danger at extreme, the second-highest danger rating, in five Victorian regions on Monday.
Senior meteorologist at the forecaster, Dean Narramore, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp that the hot and windy conditions could spark “big fires” ahead of a cool change due in Victoria later on Sunday.
Elsewhere, the states of New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory were under heatwave alerts on Monday, the forecaster said on its website.
In New South Wales, Australia’s most-populous state, Narramore said “low to severe heatwave conditions” were expected, forecasting the heatwave to intensify there on Tuesday.
A relief centre has been opened at Horsham Senior Citizens Centre, at 17 Roberts Avenue, Horsham.
