“The latest reports are that we[have] probably seen somewhere between five and 10 homes destroyed in and around Beaufort. The damage estimates are still under way,so they are not final figures,” he said.
“It does not look the damage is quite as severe as what we saw a week or so ago in Pomonal we lost over 40 homes.”
Earlier on Friday,Victorian authorities confirmed homes had been destroyed in the Pyrenees fires,but didn’t provide further figures as fire crews were still to fully assess the damage. Still,the premier and CFA chief said they expected the number of properties lost would rise.
Watt,the federal minister,said the Commonwealth had not yet been called on for emergency support.
“Victoria has managed it themselves,” he said.
“But,you would have seen they’ve had around a thousand firefighters out,dozens of firetrucks,over 20 aircraft and that’s one of the factors that helped to manage these conditions so well.”
Watt said serious hot and dangerous weather could return to Victoria midway through next week.