Authorities in Australia declared a state of disaster on Saturday after bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in the country’s southeast.
Temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) as a heatwave blanketed the state of Victoria this week, with hot winds fanning some of the most dangerous fire weather since the “Black Summer” bushfires of 2019 to 2020 .
One of the most destructive bushfires ripped through almost 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres) near Longwood, a region cloaked in native forests.
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,” she said. “And it sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave, go.”
Three people missing inside one of the state’s most dangerous fire grounds had been found, Allan said.
It sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave, go
Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said at least 130 structures had been destroyed across the state, a figure that includes houses, sheds and other buildings.