-
-
Related
Up to 11 homes have been destroyed with others damaged as
firefighters battled large fires raging across Victoria, some
deliberately lit.
Up to five of the properties lost, plus a 40 hectare timber
plantation, were in the Latrobe Valley township of Boolarra North,
in the state's south-east Gippsland region.
The nearby towns of Mirboo North and Yinnar remained under threat
from a line of fire fronts not yet contained.
The heatwave-ravaged state's two main bushfires, both deliberately
torched, have blackened about 4,500 hectares in the Gippsland area,
Country Fire Authority Deputy Incident Controller Ben Rankin
said.
The CFA has confirmed one house was destroyed but believes the
number could be as high as 11.
"It's expanded this afternoon with a lot of intensity and movement.
It's grown in size remarkably," Rankin said of the Boolarra
blaze.
About 300 firefighters would continue to fight the blaze and
protect properties throughout the night.
One firefighter suffered a minor burn to his neck and four others
had heat stroke.
"Our people at the moment have been putting out houses on fire at
Boolarra," Rankin said.
"That will continue until the threat has passed."
A community meeting was held at the Yinnar Primary School for
concerned residents.
The CFA have issued urgent warnings to residents to activate their
bushfire plans as the flames bore down on them on the third day of
a record heatwave that has gripped south-east Australia.
Firefighters have detected three deliberately lit fires south of
Boolarra, which has angered locals.
No one has yet been charged, and police released two men after
arresting and questioning them.
In the nearby towns of Delburn and Darlimurla, more than 200
firefighters were battling blazes that had swept across more than
2,000 hectares.
The CFA warned residents to regularly check their properties for
wind-borne burning embers.
In Melbourne's outer south-east, firefighters brought under control
a blaze sparked by a car crash that threatened power lines in the
suburb of Endeavour Hills.
More than 300 firefighters plus 80 trucks and aircraft were
involved in tackling the blaze and the CFA warned Endeavour Hills
and Lysterfield South residents to be alert for ember attacks.
