Devastation as 130 buildings destroyed, crops razed and livestock lost

“Yesterday, we saw more than 200 grass and scrub fires affect every corner of our state.”

The town of Harcourt, south of Bendigo, was the hardest hit, with more than 50 structures wiped out, including several homes and businesses.

The Bendigo railway line has also been damaged by fire and is now closed, with buses replacing trains.

Another 30 structures have been lost in the Longwood fire in the state’s north, where the town of Ruffy has been almost wiped out, and homes were lost in Alexandra and Eildon, as well as in other localities scattered around Lake Eildon.

In the Natimuk fire near Horsham, about 20 structures had been destroyed, along with more livestock, while a nursing home that was under threat was saved by local fire crews.

In central Victoria, the Longwood fire covered 142,421 hectares as of 6pm Saturday night, down from 145,249 hectares on Friday. Gusty winds made conditions difficult at the Longwood fire ground, which is likely to burn for weeks, State Control Centre spokeswoman Reegan Key said.

“Things are still very dynamic in that area,” she said.

Winds gusts were expected to reach up to 50km/h on the Longwood fire ground this evening, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The second-largest fire, at Walwa, is burning 93,010 hectares, down from yesterday’s 100,721 hectares. The Streatham fire near Ballarat is burning 18,340 hectares, while the Natimuk fire in Victoria’s west was at 8517 hectares.

About 38,000 households and businesses were without power on Saturday morning. One man was found dead within the Harcourt fire zone, although authorities said his death was not believed to be related to the blazes. Three volunteer firefighters were being treated for serious injuries.

A state of emergency has been declared across 18 local councils, and the state government has made disaster relief grants available to the thousands of people affected by the fires.

Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed on Saturday morning that 300,000 hectares of the state had burnt since the fires broke out on Wednesday last week, causing smoke and ash to drift across Melbourne and Port Philip Bay.

“There continues to be 10 major fire fronts burning across Victoria, but they’re not the only fires that are in the landscape across the state,” the premier said.

“There’s another 20 fires in local communities that need to be closely monitored.”

Allan, whose own family and neighbours fled the Ravenwood fire that ravaged Harcourt, applauded the actions of locals who were told to leave their homes, and who adhered to warnings from authorities.

“We did see over the course of yesterday and into the evening that as those emergency warnings were issued, communities did respond. They did leave, and I thank you for that.”

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Allan urged residents not to return to fire-affected areas until authorities had cleared their return. Relief centres have been set up across the state to serve locals displaced by the fires.

Later on Saturday, the premier visited the Seymour relief centre to speak to locals, stressing her thanks to emergency services workers and to people who made “the hardest call” to leave their properties and animals behind.

The causes of the fires are yet to be determined, though Wiebusch said some fires were started by lightning.

Wiebusch and CFA chief Jason Heffernan would not be drawn on whether sparks from a truck axle or other machinery caused any of the fires, or what role roadside verge management policies had on the spread of the fires.

“The fuels in this state have been baking for days up until yesterday’s event,” Heffernan said.

“It doesn’t matter what the fuel load would have been. You could have mown your front yard, and it would have burnt yesterday under yesterday’s conditions.”

Police Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed three people who were believed to be missing had been found safe and well.

He urged Victorians to follow the instructions of officers and other emergency services workers at checkpoints.

“I implore you to follow the instructions of emergency services personnel who are out there. The reason they give these instructions is very much for your own safety,” Bush said.

Mansfield Mayor Steve Rabie, who spent the morning at the relief centre trying to reassure his community, was happy conditions had improved so that crews could fight the fire front as it moved east towards the Strathbogie Ranges towards Mansfield.

“They want it stopped before then. If it gets across there, it’ll be into the state forest, and that’s another level of worry,” Rabie said.

“They don’t want it jumping over the lake [Lake Eildon], they are just trying to contain it at the lake. If it gets going enough, and you get a big westerly wind, it’ll jump Lake Eildon easily.”

In the tiny hamlet of Ruffy in the Strathbogie Ranges, about 10 homes burnt to the ground, while other buildings including sheds and storerooms were also razed. The community centre and telephone exchange were destroyed in the hamlet, which was one of the first to face the flames on Wednesday.

“Ruffy is just shell shocked in the aftermath,” local resident Mark Noye said. “Some people saved what they could, others lost absolutely everything, and it’s going to hit them the hardest. Nobody has had a real chance to process what has happened.”

The cider industry of Harcourt took a massive hit from the fire, with many of the apple and pear orchards that surround the town and supply processors destroyed.

In Harcourt, dozens of houses and the town’s Coolstore burnt to the ground after the wind change on Friday evening. Thousands of bottle of cider, wine and beer along with loose apples were scattered on the ground of the Coolstore’s sheds.

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Wine-making business owner Paul Taylor told this masthead he was devastated at the loss of the fixture of the town’s businesses. “Literally everything is gone,” he said.

Cider maker Michael Henry, of Henry of Harcourt, feared that much of his orchard was destroyed in the fire, while his residential property was also lost in the fast-moving blaze that hit the region.

“It could very well spell quite a serious blow to Henry of Harcourt because I can’t go through the process of growing up trees for another 10 years to start up the types of varieties that we had.”

Federal Minister for Emergency Management Kirsty McBain, who joined the premier and state officials at the State Control Centre on Saturday morning, said the government at all levels would help people and businesses affected by the fires.

“Understanding the full impact will only be possible once it’s safe for the impact assessment teams to go in there and do that assessment,” McBain said.

“And when those assessments are done, governments – federal and state and local – will be there to support those communities, whether it’s property loss or stock or produce loss, there will be supports available as we work through this next phase.”

McBain also said she had authorised a request for hundreds of emergency service personnel to be accommodated within the Albury-Wodonga military area, where the nearby Walwa fire was still spreading out of control and could cause more damage with more hot weather on the way next week.

CFA Chief Officer Heffernan has confirmed three firefighters suffered serious injuries while working to contain blazes across the state. One crew made a lucky escape from a burn-over of their vehicle, which was destroyed.

Volunteer firefighters working to save townships from the Longwood and Harcourt bushfires also returned to find their own homes destroyed.

Wiebusch has urged residents who have been forced to evacuate not to return home until told it is safe to do so.

“We can’t appeal enough to the community that if you’re in and around those areas, please stay away from those fire footprints until we declare them safe to return,” he said.

“You will see that there are traffic management points in place. There will be warnings that talk about [areas not being] safe to return, and there may be exclusion zones that we implement over these coming days.

A Total Fire Ban has been declared for the whole state of Victoria for Sunday, for a third consecutive day.

“Conditions have eased, but we have a long way to go to get the current fire situation under control,” CFA chief Heffernan said.

“I appreciate that a [ban] can have an impact on communities and business but be assured these restrictions are reviewed on a daily basis. This ensures we get the right balance between mitigation against new fires in the landscape and the needs of communities,” he added.

With Cassandra Morgan and Wendy Tuohy

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