Australia Weather News

Victoria's premier has declared a state of disaster after bushfires blazed across the state, while three people reported missing have now been accounted for.

At least 60 new blazes started on Friday — a day authorities had forecast to bring the most challenging bushfire conditions experienced by the state since the Black Summer fires of 2019-20 — with dozens of towns under threat. 

On Saturday, there were still three emergency-level fires across the state — two in central Victoria in Longwood and Ravenswood South, and one in Walwa in the north-east at the NSW border.

Late on Friday, authorities confirmed the Ravenswood fire had destroyed a number of homes in Harcourt in central Victoria.

There are four separate blazes at Watch and Act level in the state's west and south-west, including concerns for a series of bushfires burning in the Great Otway National Park. 

CFA Victoria chief Jason Heffernan said the Surf Coast was becoming an area of concern. 

"My sense is we're going to be talking a lot about the Otways throughout the course of the day," he said.

A fire in the Alpine National Park, east of Melbourne, has been downgraded to a Watch and Act after the fire spread slowed overnight.

Heatwave and extreme fire weather conditions have eased, but there have been thunderstorms throughout the night, producing lightning.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced early on Saturday morning that a state of disaster had been declared.

The decision covers 18 local government areas and one alpine resort.

It allows the state government to direct authorities to possess private property to respond to the disaster, control movement in the area, and compel the evacuation of people from the region.

"It ensures that every part of government — every department, every agency, every authority — is focused on one priority: protecting life," Ms Allan said in a statement.

Three people who had been reported missing after they were seen by CFA staff outside a home in Longwood have been found. 

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said the three people made themselves known to the CFA and police following media reports that they were missing. 

It had been reported that a man, a woman and a child were missing, but Commissioner Bush said they were in fact three adults. 

"There was some confusion as to who they were, and it's taken some time to fully assure ourselves that those people are now safe," he said.

A man in his 60s was found dead in a vehicle in Harcourt, near the Ravenswood South fire. Police said they were still investigating the circumstances, but that his death was not believed to be directly related to the fire. 

The Longwood fire, which started on Wednesday and ripped through the town of Ruffy on Thursday, started to spread quickly on Friday as heatwave conditions baked Victoria for most of the day.

That fire moved in all directions towards towns such as Euroa and Benalla as winds on Friday remained unpredictable, with at least 130,000 hectares burnt by the evening.

The fire's spread to the south had put communities devastated by the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, including Marysville and Kinglake, under threat.

Jane Homewood, who lives just south Ruffy, said her son just managed to escape the fire after she evacuated to Melbourne.

She did not know if the home her family had owned for decades was destroyed.

Ms Homewood said several wind changes saw the blaze surround her property.

"This is the first time I've been in a major fire. I just had no idea how rapidly fire approaches," she said.

"It would be on the west, then we were lucky that our neighbours came as it was approaching us from the north. Then, all of a sudden, it was coming from the south.

"Now we just hope that we're lucky. We had soaks all around the house, but I wish we'd had a lot more."

Thousands lose power as temperatures soar

Throughout Friday, communities across Victoria sweltered in temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, with towns including Shepparton and Albury still recording temperatures above 40C after 6:30pm.

At one point on Friday afternoon, more than 90,000 people were without power.

A grassfire near Horsham in Victoria's west spread quickly, with property and stock losses reported by fire authorities.

The fire came close to an aged care facility near Natimuk. 

The chief executive of West Wimmera Health, Ritchie Dodds, said 36 residents and 30 staff members ended up sheltering in place due to the speed of the blaze.

"There was no time for us or anyone in Natimuk to evacuate," Mr Dodds said.

"At the facility, there were spot fires going off around the garden outside."

The local CFA and Fire Medical Rescue Victoria were able to put out the fires at the nursing home.

The fire near Horsham had been difficult for firefighters to contain, Mark Gunning, the regional controller for the Grampians emergency management region, said.

"It was an extremely challenging day for communities and firefighters," he said on Friday evening.

"The fire has now started spreading out in a number of different directions, so firefighters are trying to get the upper hand.

"It's been a dry two years. We're starting to see that with the forest fuels that are burning around Victoria now and that 24-month absence of rainfall.

"[The fire has] the type of energy that firefighters just can't work with and attack directly. We have to work indirectly and take wins when we can."

Smoke haze had spread across much of the state by Friday evening, including in Alexandra, where a lurid glow had set in by the afternoon as the Longwood fire spread south-west.

Heavy smoke and falling ash also reached the south-western Victorian coastline by Friday afternoon, with residents reporting "big chunks of ash" blowing as far as Ocean Grove, south-east of Geelong.

For more information on the latest fire warnings for Victoria, visit the VicEmergency website.