On Friday morning, reports started to emerge from the tiny hamlet of Ruffy, which lay directly in the fire’s path. At least 10 homes were destroyed there, along with the community centre and telephone exchange. A firefighter suffered third-degree burns and was taken to hospital. The true toll there will only be known when it is safe enough to get fire crews in on the ground.
“It looks like an atomic bomb has gone off,” local CFA captain George Noye told ABC Radio on Friday morning. “[I’m] just down the main street at the moment, we’ve lost the old school, the old Ruffy produce store is gone, three houses on the main street. We’ve lost countless homes across the area. Ten of my firefighters that I know of have lost homes.” The destroyed former school had been converted to a community centre; Ruffy does not have a school.
Property destroyed in Ruffy, seen from a helicopter.Credit: Nine
Just to Ruffy’s north, in Longwood East, authorities were mounting a search for three people – two adults and a child – who had earlier been urged to leave. When firefighters later returned to the same address, the house had been destroyed. In nearby Tarcombe, an unconfirmed story emerged of an animal-carer sheltering in a dam with six joeys as fire consumed her property.
Other survivors brought stories of scorched moonscapes, razed houses and dead sheep.
As the Longwood fire advanced, updated modelling suggested strong winds could push the fire towards the towns of Yea and Alexandra, which attracts summer holidaymakers and campers.
By 2pm, locals were told to stop using water “until absolutely necessary” – as firefighters needed the pressure for their hoses. By 5pm, maps released by authorities suggested the fire was lapping at the edges of the town and had overrun the nearby hamlets of Molesworth, population 91 and Yarck, population 194.
Scenes from the Longwood fire.Credit: Jason South
In Yea, just west of Alexandra, the only sound was the roar of fire trucks beneath the orange sky choked with thick, grey smoke. Every shop was shuttered except the local service stations and a supermarket, which have stayed open for the fire crews battling blazes in areas surrounding the historic town.
Most residents had left the town, but Paul Heyen stayed behind to protect the house he has lived in for more than 40 years. Heyen, who trained as volunteer firefighter in Tasmania, filled his yard with buckets of water and has a battery-operated hose ready to put any embers that could land on his home.
Dozens of people have sought shelter from the fires in the regional centre of Seymour, on the fire’s eastern edge. “We’ve got people sleeping in the basketball stadium. There are pets everywhere,” said Claire Ewart-Kennedy, Deputy Mayor of Strathbogie Shire. “It’s pretty confronting.”
As she spoke, the region’s mayor was fighting fires at his property as Ewart-Kennedy spoke. “This is catastrophic. There are three people missing. We’ve lost significant livestock, property and God knows what else in Ruffy and Longwood,” she said. “This is beyond serious. I’ve never felt so helpless and scared of what’s still to come.”
Firefighters battle the Longwood fire overnight on Thursday.Credit: Facebook
Further north, the second major blaze was burning near Walwa, near Albury-Wodonga.
The fire tore through bushland and pine plantations on Thursday before emerging on Friday and running south-east towards Corryong.
Firefighters were fearful of a weather change forecast for Friday night, which was expected to push the fire east onto the town. On Friday afternoon they were urging locals to leave immediately.
Cheryl Winter, owner of the Corryong Courthouse Hotel, said she planned to stay and recently picked up a generator from Albury to keep the town’s top pub running.“We’ll keep the aircons and the beer tap going for anyone who needs to get in from the heat,” she told this masthead.
Weather changes are among the most-dangerous part of fighting a fire as they can turn a blaze’s flank into a long firefront. The cool change that swept through Melbourne about 5pm was not expected to hit the fire-affected regions until well into the night.
Longwood reached a top of 41.3 degrees, with wind gusts of up to 60 kilometres forecast across the afternoon. Near Walwa, it reached 37.3 degrees, with gusts approaching 40 kilometres an hour.
More than 75,000 houses are without power across the state, as major electricity supply companies continue to grapple with dynamic fire conditions. The State Emergency Service has fielded 539 calls for help across Victoria since midnight – 420 of them for fallen trees. Damaging winds are only expected to get worse this evening following a wind change, but a 112km/h gust was recorded at Mount Gellibrand in the south-west about 1.20pm.
Extraordinary weather above the Walwa bushfire.Credit: VicEmergency
In the heat of the afternoon, people in Skipton – just east of Ballarat – and Horsham were hit with sudden emergency warnings after fast-moving grassfires broke out and raced towards the towns.
Across the state, dozens of roads remain closed including the Hume Freeway, in both directions between Seymour and Violet Town.
