Residents of an Australian region hit by bushfires had two hours to return home and collect their belongings on the Tuesday before Christmas as rescue workers try to contain the blaze.
Communities around the Grampians in Victoria were evacuated after authorities warned conditions there in the coming days could be the worst since Australia’s worst ever wildfire season, the so-called “Black Summer” of 2019-20.
The bushfires have already burned over 41,000 hectares (101,000 acres) of land over the past week, but there have been no fatalities or loss of property.
The intense heat predicted for Boxing Day has also led to a number of fire warnings across the country.
Across Victoria, temperatures are expected to reach 40°C (104°F) accompanied by strong dry winds, while parts of South Australia and New South Wales could also be at risk of bushfires from Thursday to Friday.
“We expect extreme fire danger across the state,” said Luke Hegarty, a spokesman for Victoria’s State Control Centre.
“This is the greatest fire threat the state – in any part of the state we’re talking about – has seen since Black Summer. It is important that people understand that Thursday is a day with serious potential,” he added.
Four interstate fire services and two response teams – comprising over 100 personnel – will land in Victoria in the coming days to provide respite for emergency responders working around the clock to battle the current fires.
The decision to allow families around the Grampians temporary access to their homes on Tuesday morning “to stock up on Christmas items, presents and the like” was made by the state’s Country Fire Authority (CFA) Chief Officer Jason Heffernan.
“This is to ensure that when Halls Gap residents are relocated at Christmas they at least have what they need,” he told Seven’s Sunrise programme.
Mary Ann Brown, who lives on the southern edge of the Grampians National Park, told the ABC her community was nervous ahead of the holidays.
“We won’t be out of the woods until we get some really heavy rain, and that might not come until March or April, so it’s going to be a long summer.”
Parts of Australia have been on high alert for the bushfire threat this summer, following several quieter seasons compared to the 2019-20 fires associated with hundreds of deaths and swept over 24 million hectares of land.
The country has experienced one disaster after another in recent years, experiencing both record-breaking floods and extreme heat as it feels the effects of climate change.
