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Bushfire in Victoria triples in size in 24 hours to over 30 000 ha (74 130 acres), Australia

ByRishav Kothari

Victoria residents were urged to flee immediately on Saturday, December 21. 2024 as massive bushfire, spanning over 30 000 ha (74 132 acres), swept through the Grampians region. Officials are warning the fire could burn for weeks.

Bushfire near grampians

Bushfire near Grampians, Victoria. Image credit: North Hamilton Rural Fire Brigade

  • The bushfire, originating from Grampians National Park, grew from 7 500 ha (18 533 acres) on Friday, December 20 to over 30 000 ha (74 132 acres) by Saturday, December 21, posing a significant threat to nearby communities.
  • An Emergency Warning was issued on December 21 for several areas, including Halls Gap, urging residents to evacuate immediately as the fire advanced toward populated regions.

An intense bushfire swept through Victoria on Saturday, triggering the highest alert level and prompting an Emergency Warning urging residents to evacuate immediately.

At 06:48 UTC local time (LT) on Saturday, an Emergency Warning was issued for Bellfield, Bellfield Settlement, Flat Rock Crossing, Fyans Creek, Grampians Junction, and Halls Gap, superseding an earlier alert.

When the warning was issued, the fire was advancing northward from Grampians National Park toward Halls Gap and had already reached Lake Bellfield.

https://twitter.com/or_bit_eye/status/1870271890553479181

Spanning 7 500 ha (18 533 acres) on Friday, December 20, the fire expanded dramatically to over 30 000 ha (74 132 acres) by Saturday.

At a town hall meeting in Ararat on Saturday morning, Incident Controller Mark Gunning informed residents that the high-intensity fire could burn for weeks and was beyond firefighters’ control.

Bushfire in Victoria. Image credit: North Hamilton Rural Fire Brigade

“This fire is in areas inaccessible to machinery or crews, so our approach involves ‘burning out’—a controlled ‘fight fire with fire’ strategy,” explained Glen Rudolph from Forest Fire Management.

Around 400 firefighters, supported by over 100 tankers, 25 aircraft, and various heavy equipment, are engaged in battling the fire.

Bushfire in Victoria. Image credit: North Hamilton Rural Fire Brigade

Parks Victoria closed the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park at 18:30 on December 20 and urged campers to adhere to VicEmergency warnings, preparing to leave key areas, including Zumsteins, Mackenzie Falls, Reeds Lookout, Balconies, Boroka Lookout, Wonderland Range, Smiths Mill, Bugiga, and Mt Rosea.

Relief centers were set up at Grampians Community Health in Stawell and Alexandra Oval Community Centre in Ararat to support affected residents.

Multiple bushfires continue to burn across Victoria, with several orange and yellow alerts currently in place.

References:

1 Halls Gap residents told to leave immediately, holiday-makers urged to stay away as Grampians fire more than triples in size – ABC – December 21, 2024

2 Incidents and warnings – Vic Emergency – Accessed at 10:56 UTC on December 21

Rishav Kothari is Editor-in-Chief of The Watchers, where he runs the newsroom and covers earthquakes, volcanoes, severe weather and space weather.

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2 Comments

  1. Canberra Daily, Australia, 28 Dec 2024
    – EXCERPT –
    The more than 380km-perimeter blaze has scorched over 75,000 hectares and is expected to burn into the new year due to dry conditions and difficult, mountainous terrain.
    .
    “There’s still a lot of work to be done to confirm the rest of the impact assessment,” State Control Centre spokesman Luke Hegarty said.

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