Urgent Alert Issued for Bushfire in Southeastern Australia Amidst Heatwave
Click to start listening
Sydney, Dec 16 (NationPress) An urgent alert has been issued for a bushfire that is currently burning west of Melbourne in Australia's second-most populous state.
On Monday evening, emergency services urged residents of the small towns of Creswick and Dean, located approximately 100 km west of Melbourne, to evacuate the area immediately due to the threat of an out-of-control bushfire.
"Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions turn too perilous. Emergency services may not be able to assist you if you choose to remain," the alert indicated.
Nearly 60 vehicles and 250 firefighters from the Country Fire Authority in the state of Victoria have been deployed to combat the fire, which ignited in a state forest around 5 p.m. local time.
Luke Hegarty from the state control center informed the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that individuals in the vicinity must stay vigilant.
He stated that conditions are anticipated to change and deteriorate very rapidly, according to reports from Xinhua news agency.
The fire broke out as temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius across Victoria on Monday, coinciding with a widespread heatwave affecting much of Australia.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded a maximum temperature of 47.1 degrees Celsius in the town of Walpeup, situated 400 km northwest of Melbourne, marking the highest December temperature in Victoria since 2019.
Regions in Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory all reported maximum temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius on Monday.
In Melbourne, the temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius shortly after 9 a.m. and exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.
Conditions in the city are expected to improve with a cool change predicted for the evening.
