Australia on alert: State of disaster declared as Victoria’s bushfires rage

Australian authorities have declared a state of disaster on Saturday as deadly bushfires rage across Victoria, devouring 119 structures and more than 300,000 hectares of bushland.

In the state of Victoria, temperatures soared past 40 in the wake of scorching heatwaves, along with hot winds fanning some of the deadliest fire weather since the Black Summer bushfires.

Black Summer bushfires occurring in 2019-2020 were responsible for razing millions of hectares, devouring thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

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. And it sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave, go,” she said.

According to Allan, the fire crews have found three people missing inside one of the state's most dangerous fire grounds.

According to emergency management commissioner, Tim Wiebusch, the bushfires that have been raging for weeks have destroyed about 50 homes in Harcourt and Ravenswood. Moreover, the fire also damaged the Bendigo railway line.

“We have seen significant livestock, cropping land and vineyards that have also been impacted or destroyed,” he told reporters.

Wiebusch also shed light on worsening conditions of fire, citing major fires would continue to burn and spread for days, if not weeks, driven by the lightning and weather conditions.

“Conditions we experienced yesterday with fire are unlike what we’ve seen in 2009 and 2019. Yesterday we saw more than 200 grass and scrub fires affect every corner of our state … 10 of those fires are remaining as major fires,” Wiebusch added.

As per researchers, Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.5C since 1910, thereby responsible for causing extreme weather patterns.

Being the one of the largest producers and exporters of fossil fuels, Australia is facing the climate crisis on unprecedented levels.