Authorities in Australia declared a state of disaster on Saturday after bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in the country’s southeast.Temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) as a heatwave blanketed the state of Victoria this week, with hot winds fanning some of the most dangerous fire weather since the “Black Summer” bushfires of 2019 to 2020.
One of the most destructive bushfires ripped through almost 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres) near Longwood, a region cloaked in native forests.
A property destroyed by a bushfire in Longwood, Victoria, Australia on Friday. Photo: AAP/Reuters
State Premier Jacinta Allan on Saturday declared a state of disaster, giving fire crews emergency powers to force evacuations.
“It’s all about one thing: protecting Victorian lives,” she said. “And it sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave, go.”
Three people missing inside one of the state’s most dangerous fire grounds had been found, Allan said.
It sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave, goVictoria State Premier Jacinta Allan
Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said at least 130 structures had been destroyed across the state, a figure that includes houses, sheds and other buildings.