Australian bushfires

Massive bushfires claim life

A woman has died, houses have been destroyed and tens of thousands of hectares burned as huge bushfires rage across south-eastern Australia.

Radio NZ,

18 January, 2014

Fire crews battled another day of stifling conditions on Friday to tackle more than 100 bushfires across parts of Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.

A huge bushfire burning in the Grampians region of northwest Victoria that claimed a woman's life had burned through 51,000 hectares by Saturday morning and was so big it had created its own weather system.

On a day in which Victoria faced some of the worst fire conditions since Black Saturday in 2009, a woman died at a Roses Gap home in the state's northwest Grampians region.

The Grampians fire has caused a 12km convection column that has created thunderstorms and lightning.

Fires burned through thousands of hectares in Victoria's Grampians region.

Photo: AAP / Country Fire Authority

At 7am (AEDT) on Saturday, firefighters were dealing with 35 blazes across Victoria but only one emergency warning was still in place, down from three a few hours earlier.

In South Australia, 12 houses have been destroyed as 32 bushfires continue to burn across the state, but the threat reducd on Saturday as weather conditions eased. A late wind change pushed a fire towards several towns in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges.

In Queensland, four water bombing aircraft and 15 fire crews battled the bushfire near the Gore Highway at The Pines, about 120km west of Toowoomba. In Western Australia, an emergency warning was issued for people in the southern part of Bullsbrook, north of Perth.

Bushfires: Fire in Grampians, Victoria, still out of control; 12 homes lost in South Australia

Bushfires are continuing to burn across south-eastern Australia after tearing through hundreds of thousands of hectares of land and destroying at least a dozen houses.

ABC,

18 January, 2014

In South Australia, 12 homes have been destroyed by fires in the Flinders Ranges, Murraylands and Southern Barossa Valley.

The fire in the northern Grampians in western Victoria, where one woman died yesterday, intensified overnight after burning through around 51,000 hectares.

Country Fire Authority (CFA) deputy chief officer John Haynes said details about the death are still not clear.

"[There's] only sketchy information at the moment ... but we understand that it wasn't because of the fire, it was a medical issue," he said.

An emergency warning is in current for residents at Grampians Junction and Halls Gap and more than 500 fire personnel are working to build control lines.

The fire was pushed north by strong gusty winds over the Western Highway, north-west of Dadswells Bridge last night.

Peter Brown from Horsham Council says 79 people from the St Helens Plain and Dadswells Bridge areas have come through a local relief centre.

Two properties are believed to have been lost as well as 7,000 stock.

State controller Craig Goodwin says he hopes cooler temperatures and relaxed conditions will help firefighters bring the blaze under control.

"The change that has come through most of the state, while bringing some cooler temperatures, [also brought] gusty winds to many of the areas we have fires," he told ABC News 24.

"As well as the Grampians ... the fire just a few kilometres south of Ouyen [in the Mallee] was very active last night on that wind change as well.

"Our firefighters were able to pick it up very quickly and contain it as it came out of the forest."

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine has visited the area and says relief will be available for those affected.

"Relief centres have with them relief grant officers, who are able to provide grants of emergency relief grants of up to $1250 per family that have been affected by the fires ... and up to $31,000 for those who may have lost their homes," he said.

Incident controller Andrew Morrow earlier said residents in the Grampians need to remain vigilant.

"This is a significant fire. A lot of fire edge that we're dealing with," he said.

"One of the key things is that all the roads that access the fire area have been impacted and there's a lot of hazardous tree work that we need to do before we can open the areas, those roads, up and make them safe."

Wind change 'has not had dramatic effect'

Fires are also out of control in the Mallee, in Victoria's north-west, and in East Gippsland.

The Club Terrace fire burning in East Gippsland has been downgraded from an emergency warning to watch and act.

Watch and act warnings also apply to fires in Gippsland near Combienbar and Cabbage Creek, Westbury, Glenaladale and Goongerah.

CFA regional information officer John Crane says the wind change overnight has not had a dramatic effect on fire behaviour.

He says one house has been destroyed by fire in the Club Terrace area overnight but it is too early to say whether it was related to the bushfires.

"We are undertaking some investigations into that event, but the reports from that area tell us that there has certainly been one house involved with fire in that area overnight," he said.

The fire at Ouyen in the Mallee has also been downgraded to watch and act, after the strong gusty winds began to ease.

The CFA says spot fires and embers from the fire have affected the edge of town, although its unclear whether homes are at risk.