Fire crews in several states have another busy day ahead with total fire bans in place, as strong winds combine with low humidity across the country’s southeast to create dangerous conditions.
The Victorian Country Fire Authority has declared a total fire ban for the Mallee area in the state’s northwest for Monday and is also battling several blazes in the Gippsland region where a home has been lost.
An out-of-control fire burning in difficult terrain north of Maffra on Sunday triggered evacuations for residents at Briagolong, Culloden, Moornapa and Stockdale and surrounds.
CFA deputy chief for the southeast Trevor Owen said on Monday temperatures had dropped and winds had eased overnight but with 5000 hectares already blackened and the potential for the blaze to make a run east, concern remained.
“We did lose one residence in that area and we’re doing some further assessment today on the impact to any other outbuildings,” he told ABC radio.
“The fire ran back into the forest … and that’s the one we’ve been working hard on overnight and obviously yesterday as best we can.”
Authorities have issued wind warnings for Monday in South Australia, Victoria and NSW amid concerns strong winds could worsen fire conditions.
A total fire ban is in place in SA for the northeast pastoral, West Coast, and Eastern Eyre Peninsula, with extreme fire danger warnings in place.
The NSW RFS has issued a total fire ban for the southwest region bordering Victoria.
More than 70 fires are burning across NSW with 13 yet to be controlled as crews face a scorching start to October.
RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers said he was worried the upcoming bushfire season was the worst risk faced by the state since 2019/20.
“We know there is community anxiety so we’ve got to balance between not not scaring people but making people take it seriously so they do some simple things to make sure they look after themselves and their family,” he told 2GB on Monday.
“Clearly, fire season is here.”
Mr Rogers expected there would be elevated fire risk until Wednesday but hoped rain forecast for later in the week would help ease conditions.
Temperatures across NSW soared into the 30s on Sunday – about 14C above average in some areas – ahead of a cool change on Monday.
