Victoria bushfires LIVE: Out-of-control bushfire threatens towns as firefighters prepare for devastating day
Victoria is facing the worst bushfire conditions since the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, but the state is better equipped to deal with the conditions, the emergency management commissioner says.
The messaging that resulted from the 2019-2020 bushfire season helped save lives, Rick Nugent said.
“We even saw that earlier this season with Pomonal. Forty-six homes were lost to the fires – not a single life lost, thankfully. So people do listen more,” Nugent said.
Fire in the Mallacoota area in 2020. The current fire conditions are the worst since the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20. Credit: Justin McManus
“People do listen more to the messaging, and they do respond more. So we are most thankful for that because it makes our job that much easier.”
About 600 firefighters were on the ground at the Grampians National Park battling that blaze, Nugent said. About 100 interstate emergency services personnel were also helping battle bushfires across Victoria.
“It only needs one very bad day to be a very bad summer,” Nugent said. “And so we can do all we can.”
During the Black Summer bushfires, huge blazes raged across Victoria and NSW over an exhausting 90 days. In Victoria, the fires killed five people, destroyed more than 400 homes, killed 6800 livestock and burnt more than 1.5 million hectares.
