Eleven towns in Victoria’s west are at risk from a bushfire burning out of control near the Grampians,as the winds that carried a cool change to Melbourne brought new threats for firefighters.
Melbourne hit 39 degrees on Monday after three firefighters made a narrow escape when their vehicle caught alight in the Little Desert National Park.
As many 40,000 homes are without power and the SES has been swamped with calls for help after lightning and thunderstorms struck on Sunday evening.
A cool change has brought relief from the heat around the state,but bushfires are still raging in Victoria’s west.
Victorians will endure quickly soaring heat on Monday morning and a change that could hit bayside beaches with strong wind gusts.
Extreme fire danger ratings are in place for much of Victoria on Monday,with temperatures set to exceed 40 degrees.
Experts say it is only a matter of time until major Australian cities experience “house-to-house ignition” on a similar scale to Los Angeles.
The Age has obtained a recording of a meeting the Mornington Peninsula Shire council held with affected residents,at which authorities said work to identify the source of the landslide was ongoing.
Tamara Dawson was just 36 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma. She says there’s still “so much we’re not doing to reduce the burden of disease”.
Play was suspended for more than six hours on all but three of Melbourne Park’s courts on Sunday.