A bushfire “now the size of Singapore” will burn in Victoria for several weeks on end – that is, according to firefighters from the Country Fire Authority, who continue fighting fires on multiple fronts.
The largest blaze, near the Grampians National Park – about 240 kilometres west of the Melbourne CBD, has torn through 75,000 hectares – roughly the size of 100,000 football fields, including 15,000 hectares of private property.
“We’re talking about (a) fire roughly the size of Singapore,” according to Luke Hegarty, a spokesperson for Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, who spoke to the Australian national broadcaster, the ABC.
Mr Hegarty said that whilst fire conditions were easing, it would still take time to control the Grampians blaze, which has a perimeter of more than 360km: “That means we need to have walked or driven or flown the entire fire perimeter to be certain that we’ve got it under control, and that’s no easy task.”
Yesterday, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, said that while the fires will keep burning, the work of more than 600 firefighters means some residents can now return: “(The fire) will continue to burn for weeks as the wind continues to change over the coming days and weeks,” Mr Nugent said.
“The good news is all emergency warnings have now been downgraded to watch and act…and the Moyston, Pomonal, and Willaura residents will likely have permission to return to their homes this afternoon,” said the commissioner, who spoke to the media yesterday.
Hundreds of homes in Moyston, Willaura and Pomonal have lost power after the fire devastated crucial components of the region’s network. A spokesman for Powercor said hundreds of customers in the area are still without power.
“We are working with emergency service agencies to safely gain access to the area to allow us to assess the damage and conduct repairs,” he said. Some telephone communications were cut off after the Mt. Williams communications tower was destroyed on Boxing Day.
Victoria Police said in a statement on Friday that while it was aware of reports of looting in fire-impacted areas circulating online, it had not received any reports of that type of offending.
“Public Order Response Team members have been deployed to the fire zones to assist the local police response to the ongoing emergency,” the statement read. “Their duties include conducting patrols of areas where residents have left their homes to deter criminal activity such as looting.”
