Victorians are bracing for a hot blast and “challenging” bushfire conditions after sweltering through an “oppressive night”.
Victoria is bracing for a fiery blast with temperatures spiking up to the mid-40C mark in the state’s north on Monday.
Melbourne is expected to reach 39C after what the weather bureau said would be an “oppressive night”.
A total fire ban will be in place for six Victorian districts.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said Victorians should be prepared for the summer’s worst day of high fire risk.
“This will be one of the most challenging 24 hours in relation to fires for our state,’’ Mr Crisp said.
A cool change has been forecast to sweep across the state from the southwest after lunch and should reach Melbourne about 5pm, dropping temperatures by 10C to 15C within an hour.
Melburnians on Sunday tried to sleep during an uncomfortable night of temperatures in the high 20s.
The weather bureau took the unusual step of saying in its forecast that the night would be “oppressive”.
Bureau meteorologist Michael Efron said the mercury would rise quickly on Monday morning, reaching the high 30s by noon.
CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said conditions were expected to be the most dangerous this summer.
Winds of up to 60km/h could quickly propel any fires if they broke out.
Fire bans are in place for the Mallee, Wimmera, North Country, North Central, East Gippsland and North East.
Forest Fire Management chief fire officer Chris Hardman said there was potential for “very significant and devastating” forest fires as conditions worsened.
“As we know, the prevailing northerly winds in Victoria tend to drive those fires in a long, narrow strip from north to south,” he said.
“And when the risk really occurs is on the wind change, because a fire from that may only be say 500m wide (but) as soon as that change comes through it could be five, six, 10km long. And it is on that wind change where most of the devastating impacts occur.’’
A total of 64 aircraft are on standby to help tackle fires.
Ambulance Victoria director of emergency management Justin Dunlop said paramedics had been called to 24 incidents of people trapped in hot cars since Thursday. Two cases occurred on Sunday morning.
Zoo animals didn’t let the heat ruffle their feathers, with ostriches at Werribee Zoo enjoying a dip in the lake.
Some of their neighbours turned to food for relief instead as camels and vervet monkeys went bananas for some frozen treats.
Over at Healesville, Tasmanian devils worked hard but their keepers worked harder, ensuring their furry friends were kept cool and comfortable as the mercury rose.
And at Melbourne Zoo swimming trunks were optional in the Asian elephant enclosure, where the residents spent the day splashing about in their pond.
WATER WARNING AS DROWNINGS SPIKE
Mr Crisp also reminded holidaymakers of the risks of having fun in the water after seven drowning deaths in the past 10 days, including a four-year-old child.
Since July, Victoria had recorded 42 drownings, compared to 34 for the entire previous 12 months.
“You can’t afford to become complacent, no matter where you are,’’ Mr Crisp said.
“We talk about the numbers and in some respects it’s easy to talk about the numbers but what we’re talking about are people. We’re talking about sons, about daughters, about fathers, mothers.
“What that means is these families will be impacted for ever and a day.
“It means on those significant family events, birthdays and weddings, there’ll be an empty seat at the table.’’
Mr Crisp said just 67 of Victoria’s 700 beaches were patrolled so people needed to make informed decisions and swim between the flags.
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2021-01-24 15:27:42Z
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