Bushfires continue to threaten lives and home Victoria, a dome of record-breaking heat shifted away from most of the state overnight.
One emergency warning and six watch-and-act alerts remain for blazes in the south-west and north-east of Victoria.
A number of warnings surrounding the Carlisle River fire were downgraded around midday, but authorities warn the fire still poses life-threatening danger for residents in Gellibrand, Barongarook, Barongarook West, Kawarren, Carlisle River, and Charleys Creek, who are urged to take shelter.
“There are some cooler conditions today, but there is still wind around that sees this fire causing challenges for our emergency services,” Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said.
The fire threat has been reduced for most other residents who were evacuated earlier in the week, after last night’s wind change sent the flames north-east.
In its morning update, VicEmergency said the fire had burned through 11,000 hectares, but had slowed down after breaking containment overnight.
More than 400 homes destroyed by fire
The Victorian bushfires have burned through more than 400,000 hectares and hundreds of homes have been razed to the ground this month, Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said this morning.
“There are over 1300 structures that have been lost and that includes over 400 homes at current count,” McBain said.
“The impact across Victoria is significant and that can’t be underestimated.”
“Unconfirmed reports” suggest three homes were destroyed by the Otways fire yesterday, she said.
Allan this morning confirmed at least eight structures were lost in a grassfire that started yesterday in the south-western town of Larralea.
“Impact assessment teams will be going in there today to identify whether they are household or other buildings in that local area,” Allan said.
The Larralea fire was brought under control overnight.
“Today continues to be a difficult day for our emergency services and firefighters, with, as I said, eight active fires in the landscape and a couple that are particularly causing some challenges,” she said.
Town cut off from water
Meanwhile, a small town in the Otways region was cut off from water overnight, with warnings that at some point today, there would be no safe drinking water left.
Barwon Water told customers in Gellibrand that the water treatment plant was no longer able to deliver water due to bushfire danger.
“At some point today (Wednesday 28 January) water supply in Gellibrand will cease,” the organisation said in a social media post.
“Our first priority once it is safe is getting a temporary source of drinking water to Gellibrand.
“We will then work on assessing the impact of the fire and a plan to restore water direct to households.”
Allan confirmed the Gellibrand Water Treatment Facility had been “badly impacted” by the Otways fire.
“This is an active fire zone, so they will be able to get in and assess the damage when it is safe to do so and look to getting that facility repaired as quickly as possible,” Allan said.
“But for now, there is a do not drink notice out for that community and I would encourage local residents to please follow that advice.”
Barwon Water said it would provide social media updates at 11am and 4pm each day.
Power cut to more than 100,000 homes and businesses
More than 100,000 Victorians were left without power last night after extreme heat and bushfires impacted powerlines across both regional and metropolitan parts of the state.
Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio last night said the state had broken a 17-year record for electricity demand but the independent market operator said it still had enough power reserves to meet its needs.
There were about 106,000 homes and businesses without power at 8.30pm.
“These have been caused by a combination of bushfires burning out electricity assets, trees falling on poles and wires and heat-related equipment failure,” the minister said.
“Additional crews are in place to respond to these outages and will restore power as soon as possible.”
About 11pm, AusNet reported about 45,000 customers impacted from Melbourne’s east to the NSW border and Powercor showed 11,000 outages in inner-east Melbourne and near Bendigo, Geelong, Shepparton and the
Power was restored to majority of homes by this morning, with about 11,000 homes still cut off as of 3pm.
High-pressure system moves north
Extreme heat over Victoria is now shifting towards the north, with north-west SA, western NSW and south-west Queensland in the firing line, according to WeatherZone.
Temperatures are expected to reach the high 40s in those areas today, while northern Victoria will also sweat in mid-40s heat for several days to come.
Melbourne’s maximum temperature will experience a 20-degree drop, from about 45 degrees yesterday to 24 degrees today.
READ MORE: Israeli President to meet Albanese, Bondi victims on visit to Australia
Despite a cool reprieve for most of the state, northern Victoria will continue to experience extreme temperatures into the weekend, putting pressures on the Walwa fire in the north-east.
VicEmergency warned record temperatures of up to 45 degrees could be recorded in the north-east.
Several watch and act warnings remain for areas surrounding the Walwa blaze, which has been burning for almost three weeks.
