Residents flee fires and hunker down as winds pick up on Boxing Day scorcher

On Wednesday afternoon, residents of Pomonal – a town that suffered bushfires in February – were warned to leave immediately. It is now listed as a watch and act alert.

Marc Sleeman, a Pomonal resident who has stayed to defend his house from embers, said he’s prepared to leave immediately.“If that fire looks like coming this way, I’m out of here” Sleeman said.

“After the February bushfires, it left a significant scar on the landscape here in Pomonal and has cleared a lot of the forest from around my property.

“So I have over an acre of cleared land around my house, so I feel confident that the fire front is not going to hit directly.”

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State Control Centre spokesperson Luke Heagerty urged Victorians to act decisively and that people in areas of elevated concern needed to evacuate by 10am.

“Move to somewhere else, somewhere safe,” he said. “That is there’s the way to protect yourself and your family.”

“[Today’s] winds have the potential to spread those fires towards communities that, at the moment, have not been under a warning.”

He advised people to avoid unnecessary travel and to be aware of emergency warnings.

“This is not a day to be outside,” he said. “This is not a day to be undertaking any sort of travel unless absolutely necessary.

“We need the roads clear for emergency services to respond to the existing fires and to any new fires.”

A severe weather warning for damaging winds is in place for parts of western Victoria. Authorities expect winds to ease by late Thursday night. The SES is advising people to avoid travel if possible and to stay away from trees, fire-affected areas, windows and fallen power lines.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management Jenny McAllister said the Commonwealth had yet to receive a request for the Australia Defence Force to be deployed but was ready to provide any necessary assistance.

“That could be materials from the national stockpile, it could be support from Disaster Response Australia, which is a national volunteer organisation, or … it could be … support from the ADF,” she told ABC Radio National.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said a cool change would sweep through the state later on Thursday.

“We’re likely to see a cool change … into western Victoria this afternoon, central Victoria, including Melbourne, into the evening hours, and then through much of northern and eastern Victoria … overnight tonight into early hours of Friday morning,” he said.

Premier Jacinta Allan said on social media on Wednesday night that more than 100 interstate firefighters were in Victoria to help the efforts.

“Tomorrow’s conditions are expected to be the worst they’ve been since the 2019-20 Black Summer fire season,” Allan said.

“If you’re planning on travelling [on Boxing Day] – reconsider. Roads may be busy and fires can spread quickly.”

With Olivia Ireland

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