Three missing, thousands ordered to evacuate amid Australia bushfire crisis

Canberra: Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes and three people are missing amid an ongoing bushfire crisis in the southeast Australian state of Victoria.

Authorities said that there were 30 active bushfires burning across Victoria as of Friday and that they are expected to be unpredictable, uncontrollable, and fast-moving due to catastrophic conditions, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius exacerbated by strong winds.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill said at a press conference alongside emergency service personnel and the state Premier, Jacinta Allan, that three people are missing, Xinhua News Agency reported.

He said that Country Fire Authority (CFA) officials on Thursday advised the two adults and one child to leave their property in central Victoria immediately due to the life-threatening danger posed by a nearby fire.

Hill said that officials returned to the same property later on Thursday to find it had been destroyed.

“Those three people are unaccounted for,” he said.

Multiple homes have been confirmed destroyed in the central Victorian town of Ruffy, 105 km northeast of Melbourne, and residents of neighbouring towns as well as towns in the state’s far northeast have been told to evacuate.

A catastrophic fire danger rating has been declared for four regions in the state, marking the first time that the highest-level rating has been declared for multiple Victorian regions on one day since 2019.

Allan said that Friday would be one of the most dangerous fire days that Victoria has experienced in several years, urging thousands of people subject to evacuation orders to leave immediately.

“There are fires across the state, and the conditions are already extremely dangerous,” she said.

“I cannot be clearer. If you are currently still in a location where you have been advised to leave, you must leave now.”

CFA Chief Fire Officer Jason Heffernan said that temperatures of up to 46 degrees Celsius are forecast for northern Victoria on Friday and that dry lightning strikes are expected to hit central regions in the afternoon.

IANS