Great Ocean Road towns under threat; Victoria braces for record heat

Towns along the Great Ocean Road are being told to prepare to leave their homes as Victorians brace for record-high temperatures across the state.

The extreme heat risks making an out-of-control bushfire in the Otways even more volatile, prompting warnings for people in the danger zone to evacuate straight away.

“The message is to leave today,” Forest Fire Management Victoria said on Monday.

“Prepare to evacuate before sunset today. If you choose to stay, emergency services may not be able to help you.”

Police and SES volunteers spent the day doorknocking more than 1000 properties near the Carlisle River fire, south of Colac, but urged people not to wait for police.

Along the Great Ocean Road, people in popular holiday towns between Aireys Inlet and Yuulong – including Lorne and Apollo Bay – were warned to monitor rapidly changing conditions on Monday night, and prepare to leave. Anglesea was earlier in the danger zone before warnings were updated.

Some of the same towns were damaged by flash flooding just two weeks ago.

The Otways blaze began on January 7 but broke containment lines during Saturday’s extreme fire danger day in the south-west.

Smoke from the fire blanketed Melbourne in the early hours of Sunday, and is now drifting west towards Warrnambool. Air quality in the south-western city could sink to “very poor” overnight.

All visitor sites in the Great Otway National Park and state forests have been closed until further notice.

Melbourne is tipped to reach 45 degrees on Tuesday, while northern parts of Victoria brace for a week of temperatures above 40.

The town of Ouyen, in the state’s far north-west, is expected to top 49 degrees on Tuesday, which would be a state record. Geelong is forecast to reach 45, while other parts of the Wimmera and southern Mallee could reach 48 degrees.

In the state’s north-east, residents of the Nariel Valley, including McNamara Crossing and Staceys Bridge, have been urged to leave for similar reasons to the Otways.

A bushfire that began in Mount Lawson State Park near Walwa three weeks ago is expected to worsen in Tuesday’s heat.

Extreme and severe fire danger ratings, as well as a statewide total fire ban, have been declared for Victoria on Tuesday.

Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said parts of northern Victoria were likely to experience seven consecutive days above 40 degrees.

“We haven’t seen heatwave conditions like this in Victoria for almost 20 years,” Wiebusch said, referencing the heat before and on Black Saturday in 2009.

Melbourne reached 46.4 degrees on February 7, 2009, during which fires began that ultimately killed 173 people.

State response controller Alistair Drayton said firefighters were braced for Tuesday’s extreme heat, and as many as 300 firefighters and 12 aircraft were tackling the Otways fire on Monday.

“It’s just over 9000 hectares, and that has grown significantly in the last 48 hours,” Drayton said. “That’s what we are anticipating tomorrow, again ... it’s in a very difficult landscape for firefighters.

“This will not be contained in coming days should it break out. We need to make sure everyone is safe, and that’s why we’re asking people to evacuate now.”

There has been an unconfirmed report of one home lost, but it is not yet safe for impact assessment crews to visit the area to confirm.

A CFA spokesperson said this reflected how unpredictable the fire’s behaviour and trajectory could be on Tuesday.

“People will see smoke for quite some distance [tomorrow], so it’s about preparing and knowing what you’ll do. I would always recommend people turn to their preferred emergency broadcaster to ensure they are getting the updated messages if and when required.”

The spokesperson also urged those evacuating to let relatives know where they were going, or to register their details at relief centres. There are three relief centres for people to take shelter – two in Colac and one in the Geelong suburb of Grovedale.

“We can and will record your information, so people can make inquiries. Two or three weeks ago we had a fire in [Longwood] and three people were unaccounted for for a number of days. We found them uninjured and unharmed, but that’s the lesson I’d encourage people to [learn].”

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Simon Timcke said Melburnians could expect a cool change to arrive late on Tuesday.

“We’ll see a milder south-westerly change push across western districts and central districts during the afternoon, probably not reaching Melbourne until very late evening,” Timcke said.

“With that change tomorrow, there could be a bit of dust blown up out to the west, and the wind change could bring a little bit of smoke to the Melbourne area again.”

Powercor, the electricity distributor for Melbourne CBD and Victoria’s west, said it will have extra crews, dispatchers, controllers, customer specialists and others ready to act in coming days.

“Customers are urged to plan ahead: Charge phones and other devices, keep a battery-powered radio for real-time updates, and have a back-up plan for life support equipment or caring for babies, elderly, disabled people or pets,” the spokesperson said.

More than 1000 structures have been damaged by bushfires in Victoria this summer, 289 of them homes.

The Longwood fire devastated parts of central Victoria earlier this month, but it is now contained.

With Lachlan Abbott

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