At least 434 homes have been lost in the Victorian bushfires that have swept through more than 435,000 hectares across the state and claimed one life.
While authorities are hopeful of containing the fires burning out of control in the Otways, Forest Fire Management Victoria chief fire officer Chris Hardman said they could “run again” any time over the next two to three weeks because of the dry conditions.
Hardman said that despite the tireless efforts of fire crews throughout the previous days, the Otways fire had broken containment lines about 5pm on Tuesday after a change to 70 km/h south-westerly winds, sending fires racing across more than 1000 hectares overnight.
Twin blazes in the region, near Carlisle River and Kennedys Creek, had so far burnt through 14,900 hectares, the State Control Centre reported.
Communities in Gellibrand, Barongarook, Barongarook West, Kawarren, Carlisle River, and Charleys Creek were urged to take shelter about midday on Wednesday, and warned it was too late to safely leave the area.
That warning remained in place on Wednesday afternoon.
Several houses in dense bushland surrounding Gellibrand were claimed after the sprawling bushfire was fanned by chaotic winds, despite the efforts of firefighters.
To the south and west of the town, several houses were reduced to tumbles of corrugated steel and burnt knickknacks, the wreckage still smouldering on Wednesday morning. CFA members, locals and private firefighters employed by the nearby plantations swept through the area, dousing spot fires where they could.
“It’s still burning. There will be a lot thrown at it today, and hopefully with milder conditions we can get a lot contained today,” said Glenn Anderson, who is supervising a team of private firefighters from Midway Establishment, which manages a nearby bluegum plantation that remained on fire.
“It’s been hot and dusty and very uncomfortable. These have been extreme conditions.”
The fires were erratic and unpredictable. On some properties, they vapourised anything that wasn’t metal. Cars sat on their rims, the insides disintegrated.
Wayne Knight, who has been in the Otways for nearly 45 years, said the fires were the biggest he had seen.
Knight, the director of Oz Blueberry Holdings, one of Victoria’s largest blueberry growers, spent a “draining” Wednesday night with his employees fighting fires that lapped at the edges of his vast netted orchards.
Knight’s son arrived from Sydney with a 1200-litre firefighting apparatus. “He was up until 1am in the morning Tuesday night, putting out little spots all around here,” Knight said.
He said the fire had “burnt all the way to our boundary”, within a few hundred metres of the house.
Two Skycrane helicopters and a Black Hawk battled the blaze. On Wednesday morning, a single chopper continued to make round trips, ferrying water to the fire front.
At one point on Tuesday night, the chaotic winds meant Knight and his crew were putting out spot fires around the boundary, before the wind changed and covered them with smoke to such an extent they couldn’t see the blaze. At another point, the pull on the fire pump broke.
“The winds went all over the place,” Knight said. “There were four or five helicopters in the air yesterday; you could hardly talk.”
Tom Morgan, a major shareholder in the business, said: “The smoke was incredibly thick. There were burning embers falling all about the perimeter.
“I’ve still got the original house here. When that fire crossed and started to get into it, I was getting a bit nervous.
“Thankfully, with the crews that were out here, they were able to stop it at the road.”
The blueberries are ripe, and Knight should be harvesting. Instead, he is assessing for smoke taint.
Initial assessments estimate that as well as the 434 homes destroyed, a further 28 have been significantly damaged, and 1054 outbuildings have been damaged or lost.
The Australian Defence Force has begun supplying food ration packs to support emergency services personnel, which includes more than 1300 firefighters from other states, Canada and New Zealand.
Locals are hopeful they are past the worst of it, although temperatures are expected to climb again on Friday.
“A lot of places burn down when they think they are safe,” said Knight. “Some little bit somewhere catches something, and then you’ve got a major fire again.”
Senior meteorologist Angus Hines said heatwave conditions would continue until Saturday or Sunday, but bushfire conditions should ease in coming days.
“The weather across that area is going to get a bit more mild, perhaps a little less difficult,” he said. Winds would be cooler and the atmosphere would be more humid, he said, which could help suppress the speed at which fires spread.
The federal government has committed $171 million to assist communities directly affected by fires, including for those hit by prolonged power outages, as well as support for farmers.
Liam Mannix is The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald’s national science reporter.Connect via X or email.