Evacuation Ordered for Residents in Victoria, Australia Amid Escalating Bushfire Threats
Click to start listening
Sydney, Dec 25 (NationPress) Officials in the state of Victoria, Australia, have released an emergency evacuation alert for inhabitants of the Grampians mountain range as bushfire conditions continue to escalate.
VicEmergency issued a fire alert on Wednesday afternoon, urging residents of Moyston and Pomonal, two towns located in western Victoria, to evacuate immediately as the bushfire in Grampians National Park remains uncontrolled.
There is an active bushfire at Grampians National Park, specifically on Yarram Gap Road, which has not yet been contained. VicEmergency emphasized that immediate evacuation is the safest course of action before the situation becomes perilous.
In a statement on Wednesday, VicEmergency warned that the bushfires raging across Victoria are set to create Extreme Fire conditions on Thursday, marking the most severe threat the state has faced since the devastating Black Summer of 2019-2020.
When fire danger is classified as Extreme, it can spread rapidly and poses significant risks.
Forecasts indicate that hot and windy weather will commence early Thursday at 10 am, persisting throughout the day and night until at least Friday morning, as reported by the Xinhua news agency.
The fire, ignited by lightning on December 16, has consumed approximately 41,000 hectares of land as of Monday, exacerbated by high temperatures and strong winds.
Communities and firefighting teams across Australia have been preparing for several days of severe bushfire threats.
Despite more favorable conditions for fire crews, several uncontrollable fires continue to rage in southeastern Victoria this week.
With temperatures predicted to soar above 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday, residents in Victoria are advised to brace for catastrophic fire conditions.
Residents from areas evacuated over the weekend due to a significant fire in Grampians National Park, about 230 km west of Melbourne, were permitted to return for two hours on Tuesday morning to retrieve their belongings.
On Thursday, four interstate firefighting task forces and two emergency management teams are expected to arrive in Victoria to assist the hundreds of local firefighters battling the Grampians blaze.
The Country Fire Authority has recommended that anyone capable of avoiding travel through impacted areas during the Christmas period should do so.
Meanwhile, in other parts of Australia, several small bush and grass fires in New South Wales continue to burn but are under control.
In South Australia, residents of Onkaparinga Hills, an outer-southern suburb of Adelaide, were urged to evacuate on Monday evening as firefighters faced an uncontrollable bushfire, although the emergency warning was downgraded later that night.
