A CHRISTMAS Day bushfire has destroyed dozens of homes along the Great Ocean Road on Victoria’s south-west coast, and is still burning out of control.
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The blaze in Melbourne, Wye River and Separation Creek in the state of Victoria began Friday after lightning struck the area and spread due to hot weather and winds.
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Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the blaze along the famous Great Ocean Road in Victoria’s south-west, popular with holidaymakers.
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The fire, which has so far burned more than 2200 hectares, is not yet under control.
Residents of the evacuated towns of Wye River and Separation Creek at Relief Centre in Apollo Bay, south of Melbourne, Australia, 26 December 2015.
However, authorities cautioned that the blaze could continue for weeks.
The main firefront had not gone through Kennet River, but firefighters defending homes there had put out spot fires and no properties had been reported burnt.
The Great Ocean Road area has been declared a catastrophe, allowing the insurance industry to “escalate its response” to the fire crisis.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade officials have now moved in to assess the properties that have been razed or damaged and inform the owners.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s duty forecaster Richard Carlyon said five to 15mm of rain should fall overnight, providing some much needed relief for fire crews. Residents were told they could go home after an evacuation recommendation was lifted shortly after 9am on Saturday.
“You have got to stand proud to say that people are with us”, says fire chief Craig Lapsley.
“We were fortunate this time around that the wind change that came through wasn’t very strong and there was rain with it, so the fire really only ran with the north-easterly wind”, Dr Tolhurst said.
“They (residents) were all prepared, putting their barbecues on, they were cooking away, and all of a sudden they could see the smoke coming over the hill”, local resident Patrick Carey said.
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Walking tracks in the nearby Great Otway National Park have been closed to the public as the fires reached the park itself. “It could have been into the 200s [of homes lost] and it’s back now to over 100”, he told 774 ABC Melbourne.
