Victoria bushfires as it happened: Longwood fire destroys homes in Ruffy; warnings for towns including Alexandra, Yea, Marysville and Harcourt; widespread power outages amid heatwave temperatures

Thank you for following our live coverage of Victoria’s catastrophic bushfire situation.

The situation remains dynamic and evolving, but if you’re just joining us, here’s a look back at what we’ve covered today:

• Huge swathes of Victoria’s west, north and north-east are subject to emergency warnings, the likes of which emergency services leaders say haven’t been seen in years.
• The warnings are still coming thick and fast via VicEmergency, and directing residents to evacuate or take shelter immediately – including in areas ravaged by the 2019-20 Black Summer and 2009 Black Saturday fires.
• Fire crews are expected to start taking stock of the damage across the state at first light on Saturday, after a wind change creates more chaos on fire grounds overnight. However, dozens of homes have already been lost. Harcourt – a small town north-east of Castlemaine – is among those that have been devastated.

• A man, woman and child are still unaccounted for after the property they were defending was destroyed in the behemoth Longwood fire in Victoria’s north.
• The Longwood fire has grown to almost 150,000 hectares, while the state’s second-largest blaze, at Walwa, had burned through more than 100,000 hectares as of Friday evening. More than 700 firefighters, along with interstate crews, are battling blazes across the state.
• No casualties have been confirmed thus far, but a firefighter was hospitalised on Friday after sustaining serious injuries while battling the Longwood fire at Ruffy.
• Premier Jacinta Allan warned overnight conditions were going to be the “most difficult and dangerous”. She later said her own community was evacuated because of the fires.
• An air quality alert was issued for all of Victoria, and people reported ash falling from the sky as far as Melbourne’s CBD and the Mornington Peninsula.
• A total fire ban has been declared for the entire state on Saturday, after temperatures reached the mid-40s on Friday, and wind gusts climbed above 100km/h. The total fire ban was previously scheduled to finish at midnight on Friday.
• More than 46,000 properties were without power across the state late this evening, with the disruptions forcing the closure of businesses and community facilities across Melbourne.

Returning to Harcourt, north-east of Castlemaine, a drive down one street reveals a town ravaged by fire.

Footage posted to social media shows a driver making their way slowly down CoolStore Road; a street lined with homes and businesses, now full of the twisted and charred metal of collapsed buildings.

Active fires burn in the rear of some of the businesses, while another lot is shown gutted – its concrete exterior, blackened, and windows blown out to reveal an inside piled with charred debris.

Premier Jacinta Allan has implored Victorians at risk from fires to heed advice and leave their homes, saying this situation had affected her home community.

I’ve just received another briefing by the Emergency Management Commissioner at the State Control Centre.

So many communities across Victoria are being told to leave tonight, including mine. I’m thinking about my neighbours. Friends.

And all families across the state facing the same decision - leaving homes they love to protect the people they love most.

I cannot be any clearer.

If you are told to leave - do not wait. Follow the advice. Leave now.

Another fire in the west, at Skipton, has been downgraded, though is still out of control and there are still a number of road closures in the area. You can check those here.

The new alert is watch and act message is being issued for Carranballac, Skipton, Streatham.

• There is a bushfire at Yalla-Y-Poora Rd, Streatham that is not yet under control. The bushfire is travelling from Skipton in an easterly direction towards Pitfield.
• Firefighters have been able to slow the spread of the fire for now, but this can change at any time and the situation is still dangerous. You must monitor conditions and be ready to act.

The situation can change at any time. You must monitor conditions and be ready to act.

There are so many fires burning across Victoria right now, it’s hard to keep track – and state response controller Alistair Drayton can’t recall the last time he saw so many emergency warnings at one time.

But crews are quietly confident the worst of the fires will be over in the coming days.

“Look we’re not through it yet. We still seeing that there will be some change, but we’re confident that the crews are on the ground,” Drayton said.

“The fires will continue to run for the short term. Whilst we know the fires have been, unfortunately, unsuppressible today, and crews have not been able to get close to control those fires, that’s what the job is going to be over the coming days.”

No more concerning weather was forecast for Victoria over the next 10 days, so crews would be able to work in more manageable conditions to contain the fires, Drayton said.

Tonight, because of the wind change, they’ll be focused on the eastern flanks of the fires, he said.

Lightning strikes “riddling” the Otways had also sparked a fire there this evening.

As the wind has shifted now new towns are in the line of the fire with an Emergency Warning issued for settlements on the northern side of the fire.

This alert, issued at 8.52pm, covers Ancona, Fawcett, Gooram, Merton, Strathbogie, Strathbogie South, and Woodfield.

• The Longwood fire is not yet under control.
• The bushfire is travelling from Longwood in a easterly direction towards Strathbogie State Forest and Merton.
• This fire is threatening homes and lives.
• It is too late to leave the area safely so you must take shelter now.

A wind change was expected around 8:00pm tonight.

This will cause the fire to change direction to the north east, heading back towards Strathbogie.

Conditions will become very dangerous and unpredictible.

You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.

The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.

A Watch and Act alert has been issued for Duchembegarra, East Natimuk, Grass Flat, Lower Norton, Natimuk, Quantong, Vectis, Vectis East, Vectis South. The message replaces an earlier order to shelter indoors to those near the fire in the state’s west that has destroyed several houses.

• The fire in the Natimuk, Quantong and Vectis area is not yet under control.
• Firefighters have been able to slow the spread of the fire in the Quantong and Vectis area for now, but this can change at any time and the situation is still dangerous. You must monitor conditions and be ready to act.
• Natimuk residents and those in areas west of the Wimmera River who have remained at their properties should stay alert.

Staying close to a building where you can shelter is the safest option, as conditions can change suddenly.

Continue to stay informed and monitor conditions.

We’ve just interviewed state response controller Alistair Drayton, who has handled Victoria’s fire warnings and public information today.

He told us the Longwood fire – the largest currently burning in Victoria – has now grown to 145,249 hectares, and its fire edge spans 182 kilometres.

The second-largest fire, the Walwa blaze in the state’s north-east, has now burnt through 100,721 hectares.

Dozens of homes have been lost in the fires, and the Country Fire Authority will be working for weeks to extinguish them, and make them safe.

There are months of recovery work ahead for Fire Forest Management Victoria and others. We’ll bring you more from the interview in posts to follow.