Victoria bushfires LIVE: Concerns over out of control blazes at Longwood, Walwa and Harcourt after nervous night for firefighters; Dozens of homes destroyed

We hope you’re staying safe out there, considering just how much of Victoria is blackened this morning. Plenty of smoke still lingering in the air across the state too.

Let us know what you can see and how you’re getting on below.

The cool change has finally brought some relief from the blistering heat across Victoria, but weather experts are warning a shift in wind direction will likely wreak havoc on different parts of the fire ground today.

After days of temperatures soaring above 40 degrees, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Dean Narramore said much of the state will reach a maximum temperature between the high 20s and low 30s.

A firefighting aircraft circles the Longwood fire in Victoria as temperatures accelerated fire emergencies.Credit: Jason South

A cool change swept across Melbourne early on Friday evening, reaching the southern part of the fire ground near Alexandra in Victoria’s east about 7pm. But with that cool change came strong winds that are now pushing the fires in the opposite direction.

Yesterday brought 60 to 80 kilometres per hour winds, with gusts of up to 100 kilometres. Narramore said that will drop today, with gusts likely to reach between 50 and 60 kilometres per hour.

The issue today is the people who were east of the fire yesterday were fine, but if you’re east of the fire today, you could be in trouble. Any fire in the state will be.

It’ll be a cooler day today for many but still, winds are still going to cause that complicated issues for firies on the ground today.

“Today, we’re going to see the wind be of a more moderate strength. Nothing like yesterday, but it’ll still be enough to be a concern,” Narramore said.

“Yesterday, those fires were heading in a south, south-easterly direction, but now it’s a west, south-westerly wind.

“That means we’re going to start heading those fires towards the east or north-east, so to the other side of the fire now... with these gusty winds picking up probably late this morning and during the afternoon hours.”

I’ve just checked in with the State Control Centre for an update on Victoria’s fire situation this morning, after a hectic night for firefighters due to strong winds and dry lightning.

As of 6.30am, the Longwood fire has grown to more than 144,000 hectares in size. The Walwa fire is now larger than 97,000 hectares.

The Wonnangatta fire – which forced nearby residents to evacuate on Friday afternoon, but has since been downgraded to a watch and act warning – has grown to 27,000 hectares in size.

The Harcourt and Ravenswood fire has blackened 3000 hectares, while the Natimuk fire in Victoria’s west reached 9000 hectares in size.

A total fire ban is in place across Victoria on Saturday, and all Victorian districts have a high fire danger rating. Three areas along the border in NSW are also subject to a total fire ban.

A fire crew battles a blaze in Longwood on Friday.Credit: AAP

“While conditions are less severe than yesterday, the fires can still be dangerous,” a spokeswoman from the State Control Centre said.

“We are still advising people to reconsider travel and holidays because of the active fires and significant smoke impacts.

“As conditions improve today, crews will be establishing containment lines and bringing fires under control.”

There are multiple emergency warnings for residents near the three major fires across Victoria. These are the current warnings in place.

Walwa fire:

Take shelter – Beetoomba, Berringama, Lucyvale, Darbyshire, Koetong, Shelley, Colac and Nariel Valley

Leave immediately – Granya, Bungil, Burrowye, Bullioh, Walwa and surrounds, Biggara, Bullhead Creek, Dartmouth, Eskdale, Fairyknowe, Georges Creek, Granite Flat, Little Snowy Creek, Mitta Mitta, Nariel Valley, Penny Flat, Tallandoon, Tallangatta Valley, Tom Groggin, Yabba

Longwood fire:

Take shelter - Alexandra, Ancona, Fawcett, Gooram, Merton, Strathbogie, Strathbogie South, Woodfield, Acheron, Devils River, Eildon, Taylor Bay, Thornton, Maintongoon, Cathkin, Caveat, Ghin Ghin, Highlands, Kanumbra, Killingworth, Koriella, Limestone, Molesworth, Whanregarwen, Yarck, Break O’Day, Buxton, Devlin Bridge, Flowerdale, Glenburn, Rubicon, Taggerty, Thornton, Toolangi, Woodbourne, Yea

Leave immediately – Dairy Creek, Ghin Ghin, Granite, Homewood, Kerrisdale, Trawool, Whiteheads Creek, Creighton, Creightons Creek, Euroa, Kithbrook, Locksley, Longwood, Longwood East, Pranjip, Sheans Creek

Harcourt fire:

Take shelter – Faraday, Harcourt, Harcourt North, Barkers Creek, Ravenswood South, Walmer

Leave immediately – Elphinstone, Harcourt North, Metcalfe, Sedgwick, Sutton Grange

For those advised to take shelter, the CFA says the safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.

For those advised to leave immediately, the CFA says leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous.

State response controller Alistair Drayton told us last night that fire crews would start taking stock of the destruction at first light today, after a wind change swept through the two biggest fire grounds overnight.

Houses have been lost at several locations around the state, including Ruffy, Yarck and Natimuk.

What with the challenging environment today, we deliberately have not put our ground crews in there, and these are people that are trained to do impact assessment.

It being a catastrophic day, it would be really negligent of us to do what we would normally do on a normal fire, which is to go in immediately with an impact assessment crews to understand losses.

Dozens of homes across the state were destroyed, and there have also been livestock losses, but it’s unclear how many.

Premier Jacinta Allan has declared a state of disaster for 18 local government areas as well as an alpine resort in Victoria, which will give emergency services in those locations extra authority to force people to leave fire-affected areas.

Overnight, the premier announced the declaration after receiving advice from the emergency services minister and emergency management commissioner, Victoria’s fires having reached “extraordinary scale and danger”.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan with Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch.Credit: Facebook

The areas included in the declaration are: Alpine Shire, Ararat Rural City, Colac Otway Shire, Corangamite Shire, East Gippsland Shire, Golden Plains Shire, Greater Bendigo City, Horsham Rural City, Lake Mountain Alpine Resort (Unincorporated). Mansfield Shire, Mildura Rural City, Mitchell Shire, Moira Shire, Mount Alexander Shire, Murrindindi Shire, Pyrenees Shire, Strathbogie Shire, Towong Shire and Wellington Shire.

“This does not change specific advice currently in place for anyone in fire-affected areas,” Allan said. “But it sends a clear message to those who have been advised to leave: if you can, you must.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the bushfire emergency in Victoria. Three major blazes continue to burn out of control, threatening homes and lives.

A state of emergency has been issued for 18 local government areas. Dozens of homes have fallen victim to the fire, with relief centres filled with displaced families and pets.

Here’s the current state of play:

• The largest fire at Longwood, in central Victoria, continues to burn out of control with warnings in place for a number of towns in central Victoria. By late on Friday night this fire had grown to 145,249 hectares with a fire edge spanning 182 kilometres;
• The next largest fire, at Walwa in the state’s north-east, is also still out of control. Late on Friday it had burned through 100,721 hectares;
• A fire at Harcourt in central Victoria, north-east of Castlemaine, remains out of control and has ripped through dozens of homes and businesses;
• Towns in the state’s west are counting the cost after fast-moving grass fires at Skipton, Meredith, and outside just Horsham in Natimuk;
• Roads are still closed in several parts of the state around the large fires;
• A man, woman and child are still unaccounted for after the property they were defending was destroyed in the behemoth Longwood fire in Victoria’s north.
• Fire crews are expected to start taking stock of the damage across the state at first light today, after a wind change creates more chaos on fire grounds overnight.

We will continue to bring you the latest updates as they come to hand.