The Melbourne fires

With that degreee of coverage, I wonder what they put on page one – Justin Bieber? Schapelle Corby?

Victoria's worst day in five years as fires close in on Melbourne

Up to 150 fires burnt throughout Victoria on Sunday as firefighters scrambled to combat the worst bushfire conditions in five years.

the Age,

10 February, 2014

Resources were stretched across Victoria and NSW, where a further 50 bushfires and grass fires were burning, causing the temporary closure of the Hume Highway and the Princes Highway.

he Victorian Country Fire Authority warned there were 70 active fires still blazing on Sunday night, with the most serious in Warrandyte, Gisborne, East Gippsland and Latrobe Valley, where the large Hazelwood power plant was under threat.

''I can confirm that multiple homes have been lost. I can't tell you how many,'' CFA incident controller Chris Hardman said.

Three firefighters were reported injured in separate incidents around the state, including one man who was knocked unconscious by a falling branch.

More than 350 firefighters, 60 trucks and six water-bombing aircraft are battling a grass fire burning through housing estates north of Craigieburn and the bushfire in Warrandyte.

Residents of Beveridge, Donnybrook, Wallan, Kalkallo and Mickleham, north of Melbourne, have been advised they are in danger and it is too late to leave.

The Hume Highway has been blocked off and an emergency warning remained in place on Sunday night. ''This is fast-moving and unpredictable,'' Mr Hardman said. ''It's a day like today where people can get seriously injured and killed because it's right in among the communities. It's just burning too hard and fast.''

Emergency services did not know whether any residents had been injured by the fire but Mr Hardman said saving lives and homes were the priorities.

''The implications of these fires are enormous because of the populated areas they are in,'' he said.

Firefighters were also battling more than 20 active blazes surrounding Orbost in Gippsland in eastern Victoria and were preparing to evacuate nearby towns on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, half a dozen patients have been moved from a South Australian hospital as a bushfire continues to burn out of control in the southern Flinders Ranges. The Country Fire Service said the fire has burnt more than 2000 hectares in the past 24 hours.

Update:

South Australia: Bangor blaze still burning