Emergency bushfire warning near Ballarat as mercury tops 40 ...

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Out-of-control bushfire burns near Ballarat as mercury tops 40 degrees in parts of Melbourne

Firefighters are battling an out-of-control blaze in Victoria’s west after Melbourne sweltered through its hottest day of the year with the mercury topping 40 degrees in parts of the city.

Weather Melbourne - Figure 1
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An emergency alert shortly before 7pm on Monday warned residents of Wattle Flat, Clarkes Hill and western parts of Dean to leave immediately, after a bushfire started near Creswick – a small town 20 kilometres north of Ballarat.

Smoke billows from a bushfire near Creswick on Monday afternoon.

The bushfire closed Melbourne Road and was heading south-west towards Howards Road in Wattle Flat – a farming hamlet with an official population of 97 people.

However, a wind change meant the major alert was downgraded to an advice message shortly after 9pm.

On Monday night, a watch-and-act warning remained for Dean, Newlyn, Newlyn North and Springmount – small towns north-east of the fire. South-westerly wind pushed the blaze towards Sawmill Road.

“Don’t wait, leaving now is the safest option – conditions may change and get worse very quickly,” the alert said.

A dramatic cool change hit Melbourne shortly after 7.30pm.

The temperature at Olympic Park dropped from 37.2 degrees at 7.30pm to 26.2 degrees at 7.56pm – a fall of 11 degrees in 26 minutes.

The mercury in the city peaked at 39.4 degrees just before 6pm, while Melbourne Airport reached 40.8 degrees and Point Cook hit 41.3 degrees. Geelong reached 42.3 degrees.

Weather Melbourne - Figure 2
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In Victoria’s far west, the Bureau of Meteorology’s station in Walpeup – a tiny Mallee town west of Ouyen – recorded the highest maximum in the state, hitting 47.1 degrees at 2.25pm. Mildura and Swan Hill both exceeded 45 degrees.

In Melbourne, a grass fire near the West Gate Bridge on Monday morning briefly caused plumes of black smoke to billow across the major freeway.

However, about 45 firefighters and a water-bombing helicopter brought the blaze at Westgate Park under control shortly before 2pm.

Tens of thousands of Victorian households were hit with power outages amid Monday’s heat.

In Victoria’s east, AusNet reported 22,700 customers were without power after 8pm. In Melbourne’s north and west, Jemena reported 15,400 customers had no electricity around the same time.

Firefighters battle a grass fire at Westgate Park.Credit: AAP

Powercor reported 2180 customers were without electricity in the state’s west and inner Melbourne. United Energy reported 2317 households in Melbourne’s east and south had suffered unplanned disruptions shortly before 8.30pm.

In the Wimmera, temperatures above 40 degrees and northerly wind caused a watch-and-act warning to be issued for a blaze among pine plantations on Casterton-Edenhope Road.

Weather Melbourne - Figure 3
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The alert for Chetwynd, Kadnook and Powers Creek was downgraded to an advice message shortly after 2pm.

Another watch-and-act warning was issued late on Monday for a bushfire in the Grampians National Park.

However, the alert for the out-of-control blaze in dense bushland was downgraded to an advice message about 8.30pm.

Another advice alert remained active for a smouldering fire near Glenorchy, near Stawell, on Monday night.

Premier Jacinta Allan said on Monday morning that some schools had closed because of the extreme heat.

State Control Centre spokesperson Luke Heagerty said the heat, combined with strong wind, had prompted bushfire fears on Monday.

Credit: Matt Golding

“It’s the first day this summer of that sort of level of significant danger across such a large part of the state,” Heagerty said.

The summer scorcher comes after an early start to the fire season in Victoria, as blazes burnt parts of the state last month.

“Particularly in the west of the state, the grass has been dry for a couple of months now. That’s unusual to have it as dry as it has been as early as it has been this year,” Heagerty said.

“It’s pretty significant in terms of what it could signal for the rest of the summer.”

An extreme fire danger rating was issued for six districts: the Mallee, Wimmera, Northern Country, North Central, South West and Central. A total fire ban has been declared for all those districts, as well as West and South Gippsland.

Despite Monday’s persistent heat, the sweltering temperatures are not expected to return on Tuesday, which has a milder forecast of showers and a maximum of 24 degrees in Melbourne.

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