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Updated ,first published
Numerous Otway Ranges towns are facing renewed fire threat as a blaze that began two weeks ago flared up in extreme heat and broke containment lines.
People in the path of the Carlisle River fire south-west of Colac have been told it is too late to leave and to immediately find shelter, as a wind shift changes the danger zone.
Firefighters say the fire breached containment lines on a day of extreme fire danger in the south-west, where the temperature reached 39 degrees in parts of the Otways just after 5pm. It has already burnt more than 200 hectares beyond its previous footprint.
As of 7pm, the bushfire is travelling from the intersection of Carlisle River Road and Walls-Skinner Track in a north-easterly direction, from Gellibrand towards Barongarook.
Authorities say people in Barongarook, Barongarook West, Beech Forest, Carlisle River, Gellibrand, Gerangamete, Irrewillipe, Kawarren, Lovat and Wimba should take shelter now, while people to the west of this area – in the Black Bridge Road area of the Otways – should leave immediately.
An emergency relief centre has been set up at the Colac Showgrounds for people displaced by the fires, and animals can be brought there too.
Additional information is available at Colac Otway Performing Arts and Cultural Centre.
Forest Fire Management Victoria’s Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman said the wind change was moving through the area as of 6pm.
“There is active fire behaviour, a column of six kilometres. The community needs to stay in tune with what is happening: this fire is likely to continue to move through the night,” he told Nine News.
Smoke from the fire has been blowing east, and authorities are warning a wind change will cause it to drift as far as the Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island.
Around 60 vehicles are responding to the fire, which has already burned through more than 5000 hectares of national park in two-and-a-half weeks.
Another bushfire in the national park at Kennedy’s Creek remains contained, having burnt through more than 3000 hectares.
Saturday is a total fire ban day across Victoria, and the Country Fire Authority has also just announced another total fire ban for Northern Country, North Central, North East and East Gippsland on Sunday.
The high temperatures have also prompted the Australian Open to suspend play on all its outside courts and close the roofs of the indoor stadiums.
Saturday is the first day of a days-long heatwave forecast for Victoria, with the hottest day anticipated to be Tuesday.
Melbourne is expected to reach 43 that day, and Mildura 48, threatening temperature records for the state.
Hardman said other existing bushfires across Victoria could become threats again in the heatwave.
“We have active fire behaviour on the Walwa, Mount Lawson Fire. The wind change will not get through to that fire, so that’s going to put a lot of pressure on the southern edge of that fire, and we expect that fire to move in the coming days,” he said.
“We also have a fire around Dargo in the Wonnangatta area … that fire is starting to increase in activity now. It’s not currently moving but it’s one to watch.”
Meanwhile, police have arrested a man who allegedly deliberately lit five fires in the Goulburn Valley region across Friday and Saturday.
The 59-year-old of no fixed address is expected to be interviewed after the fires in Kaarimba and Bunbartha, three of them lit on Saturday’s total fire ban day.
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