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| Victoria bushfires: thousands evacuated from East Gippsland on day of huge fire threat – live | Victoria bushfires: thousands evacuated from East Gippsland on day of huge fire threat – live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Emergency Victoria has ordered the mass evacuation of a vast area, with catastrophic conditions also forecast for South Australia. Follow live updates | Emergency Victoria has ordered the mass evacuation of a vast area, with catastrophic conditions also forecast for South Australia. Follow live updates |
| Tasmania is also expecting a day of fire danger today. | |
| AAP has filed this report. | |
| I mentioned earlier that there are warnings for catastrophic bushfire conditions in place today in SA. | |
| Those have been issued for Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and Mount Lofty Ranges. Winds will likely exceed 90kmh in Maitland, Kingscote, Victor Harbor, Ardrossan and Warooka. | |
| Conditions are expected to mirror those that sparked blazes in the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island recently. | |
| Residents of the tiny village of Goongerah, on the Brodribb River, were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. It is in the path of three major fires and sandwiched between the Snowy River National Park and Errinundra National Park. Most residents heeded that warning. | |
| But some, like Jill Redwood, who lives with two dogs, two Clydesdales and a few goats on an off-the-grid property just outside the village, are staying. | |
| “We have been told there won’t be any emergency services in Goongerah, there won’t be any strike teams here,” Redwood said. “We will just be on our own. It’s too dangerous. And in the worst case scenario we could be cut off for three weeks.” | |
| The local CFA fire truck will be in the area but Redwood said there may not be anyone left to man it, because “we will all be defending our own properties”. | |
| Redwood has dealt with fire before. She has been a CFA volunteer for 20 years, done a stint on a fire tower, and defended her home at Goongerah against fires in 1983 and 2014. In both cases, the fire just missed her. | |
| She said she has been preparing her property for two weeks and believes it is defendable. Her horses have lived through a bushfire before, and remained calm. In a worst case scenario, she said, she has a fire bunker (or “glorified wombat hole”) or will retreat to the dam or the river, both of which still have water in them. | |
| “It is probably going to be a bad one, maybe worse than I have experienced before,” she said. “If I survive the day — well, hopefully I will. I might end up a stick of charcoal but I will do my best not to.” | |
| Crisp says a cool change forecast for today will hit Melbourne about 7pm but won’t reach the fire grounds until midnight. | |
| “That has the potential to create huge issues for us because we’ll have north-easterly winds pushing the fires down towards the coast,” he says. | |
| Crisp says many people have left the area but that a lot of tourists and holiday makers have remained. | |
| Asked when it would be too late to leave, Crisp says 9am. | |
| “If you’re not out by 9am there is every chance you won’t be able to leave,” Crisp says. | |
| “We had a new fire near Cann River and had to close the Princes Highway for three hours. It is an example of what could happen today.” | |
| My colleague Calla Wahlquist is on the ground in East Gippsland and has filed her first dispatch. I will bring that to you shortly. | |
| But first, Victoria’s emergency services commissioner, Andrew Crisp is speaking on the ABC. | |
| Let’s take a look at where warnings are already in place, starting in Victoria. | Let’s take a look at where warnings are already in place, starting in Victoria. |
| The area of East Gippsland, east of Melbourne, is a focus for Victorian authorities today. Yesterday, about 40,000 people were urged to leave the area ahead of extreme fire danger today. It is expected that three fires that burned over night will expand today. | The area of East Gippsland, east of Melbourne, is a focus for Victorian authorities today. Yesterday, about 40,000 people were urged to leave the area ahead of extreme fire danger today. It is expected that three fires that burned over night will expand today. |
| The evacuation took place because authorities believe they may need to close the Princes Highway, meaning people would be left without a route to leave. | The evacuation took place because authorities believe they may need to close the Princes Highway, meaning people would be left without a route to leave. |
| A total fire ban is in place across the state and temperatures will soar above 40C. The fire danger is rated as extreme in the Mallee, Wimmera, south-west, central, north-central and Northern Country districts and severe in East Gippsland and the north-east. | A total fire ban is in place across the state and temperatures will soar above 40C. The fire danger is rated as extreme in the Mallee, Wimmera, south-west, central, north-central and Northern Country districts and severe in East Gippsland and the north-east. |
| Below are the emergency warnings currently in place. | Below are the emergency warnings currently in place. |
| Good morning. I’m Luke Henriques-Gomes. | Good morning. I’m Luke Henriques-Gomes. |
| Thanks for joining us today for what is expected to be another dangerous summer day, with catastrophic conditions forecast in parts of South Australia and an extreme rating issued for Victoria. | Thanks for joining us today for what is expected to be another dangerous summer day, with catastrophic conditions forecast in parts of South Australia and an extreme rating issued for Victoria. |
| Later in the day, we will turn our attention to Western Australia, where dangerous conditions are also predicted. | Later in the day, we will turn our attention to Western Australia, where dangerous conditions are also predicted. |
| And in New South Wales, where dozens of fires are still burning, very high to severe warnings are in place in parts of the state. | And in New South Wales, where dozens of fires are still burning, very high to severe warnings are in place in parts of the state. |