Victoria bushfires LIVE: Longwood fire destroys homes in Ruffy; warnings for towns including Alexandra, Yea and Skipton; widespread power outages amid heatwave temperatures

At 5pm, authorities issued evacuation warnings for Kinglake and Marysville, heavily forested towns to Alexandra’s south – not far from Melbourne’s urban fringe.

Both were decimated in the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

More than 100,000 properties are out of power across the state, with the disruptions forcing the closure of businesses and community facilities across Melbourne.

What initially started with power outages in the regional towns of Kyneton and Wallan has since expanded to include sections of Melbourne.

Rob Hawli, owner of Tarneit West Fish and Chips, says the power outage is the longest he has experienced in a decade of owning his business.

The power first switched off at about midday, and the electricity provider says services are not expected to be restored until 7pm this evening.

“It’s going to cost us a full day of trade. Especially being a Friday, it’s our busiest day of the week,” Hawli said.

“We have a lot of stuff in the cool room and the freezer room. We’re monitoring the temperature at the moment.”

In Melbourne’s north, the Thomastown Recreation and Aquatic Centre has been forced to shut because of the outages.

Businesses have also closed early in the city’s north-east.

Corryong resident Bindy Hartnett, her husband Rob, their three-year-old daughter Georgia and neighbour Stuart Hall are sheltering inside the family’s home without power and waiting to see what happens next.

They chose to stay to defend their properties and Ms Hartnett said she feels prepared but not panicked as they have a firefighting unit, purchased plenty of water and have jerrycans filled with petrol.

“It’s an angry, angry sky,” she said.

“We’re just kind of sitting here in limbo going what’s going to happen? Because we don’t know and fires are unpredictable. You never ever know where they’re going to go or where they’re going to end up.

“It’s hard like that, not knowing where it’s gonna hit and where it’s not.”

Hartnett visited another neighbour’s house earlier to lay sprinklers and water the ground to protect against spot fires.

“The inevitable is coming, I think. It’s just a matter of being prepared and doing the best thing that we can do.”

The State Emergency Service has fielded 539 calls for help across Victoria since midnight – 420 for fallen trees.

Damaging winds are only expected to get worse this evening after a wind change, but a 112km/h gust was recorded at Mount Gellibrand in the south-west about 1.20pm.

A 100km/h gust was recorded at Mount William in the Grampians just before 2pm, and a 98km/h wind gust was recorded at Horsham in the state’s west about 2.15pm.

Of the calls to SES, 200 are still active jobs. More than 60 of them were about building damage.

The busiest SES units across the state as of 4pm AEDT are those in Whitehorse, Heidelberg, Manningham, South Barwon and Knox.

Sticking with Premier Jacinta Allan’s interview on 3AW a few minutes ago, she was asked about emergency preparedness after a couple were unable to find water or masks in a fire zone.

A caller to 3AW this afternoon said his parents, aged 70, were on the oval in Alexandra – a fire zone at the southern end of Victoria’s north-east – where CFA crews were protecting vehicles. However, his parents were unable to find water, masks or shelter beneath tents on the oval, the caller said.

Host Shane McInnes said the situation begged a question about emergency services’ preparedness.

Allan said crews were well-prepared amid “enormous challenges”, and they were keeping the community safe in Alexandra.

McInnes pressed Allan, saying: “It doesn’t seem like the resources were quite there.”

Here’s how Allan responded:

Well, Shane, I don’t think it would be appropriate for you and I to make some assumptions about what’s led to that situation arising, because, again, as someone who lives in a bushland area and knows how quickly fire can change and how wind can change fire in the landscape, I think our emergency services prepare for a number of different scenarios.

Right now, our focus should be on supporting our emergency services and taking the advice of our emergency services.”

Premier Jacinta Allan has urged Victorians to listen to the radio as some people report issues with the VicEmergency website.

Radio 3AW host Shane McInnes asked Allan a few minutes ago whether reported issues with the emergency alert website were of concern, and whether they would be resolved immediately.

This was the premier’s reply:

It certainly is [a concern], and it is the best place for information and advice.

I would encourage all Victorians to use the VicEmergency app at all times, but also have the back-up … [of] local radio on to monitor local conditions.

Having those multiple sources of advice is so important because we know from previous fires that taking the advice [of] leaving when you are told to leave does save lives.”

Emergency services were well-prepared to battle the fires over the next 24 hours, Allan said.

Victorian authorities have released a map showing the worst-case scenario for the impact of a “fast-moving” grassfire at Harcourt, Ravenswood South and surrounds.

The alert, issued at 4.03pm, said the fire was travelling in a southerly direction from Fogarty’s Gap Road towards the Midland Highway.

The map below shows the potential impact area of this fire.

This is what the official alert says:

People in this area should first check VicEmergency for current warnings.

If you are not under an emergency warning - take shelter now - you must activate your bushfire survival plan and leave immediately ahead of predicted worsening conditions.

Leaving early is always the safest option to protect your life. Check warnings regularly as the situation changes.

Communities that could be impacted by fire front or embers until 11pm tonight include: Ravenswood South, Harcourt North, Harcourt, Barkers Creek, Dog Rocks Saddle, Barkers Creek, Faraday, Golden Point and surrounds.

The mood in the north-east Victorian town of Corryong is tense after an alert to leave immediately was issued for a bushfire nearby today, triggering memories of the Black Summer fires.

Cheryl Winter, owner of the Corryong Courthouse Hotel, said she planned to stay and recently picked up a generator from Albury to keep the town’s top pub running.

“We’ll keep the aircons and the beer tap going for anyone who needs to get in from the heat,” she told this masthead.

Winter expected Corryong would lose power as the Mt Lawson State Park fire moved toward Shelly on the Murray Valley Highway. Some elderly locals had left for NSW, she said, but many planned to stay and gather at the showgrounds if the town came under direct attack.

An emergency warning on VicEmergency says a wind change is expected early tomorrow and would push the fire towards Corryong, which Winter says locals were worried about, particular after the Black Summer fires impacted the town.

“A lot of people obviously have pretty shit memories of that,” she said.