Dozens of firefighters under threat from bushfire believed to be deliberately lit
Forty firefighters came under attack from an out-of-control bushfire that is suspected to have been deliberately lit in central Gippsland.
Thousands of residents in 14 towns are on high alert as hundreds of firefighters and aircraft continue to battle the blaze, that spread from 600 hectares on Friday to 10,000 hectares overnight, about six kilometres south from Rosedale in Victoria's east.
A watch and act warning was issued just after 7:30am on Saturday for 14 towns surrounding the blaze, including Fulham, Giffard West, Kilmany, Kilmany South, Longford, Nambrok, Pearsondale, Rosedale, Sale, Stradbroke, Stradbroke West, Willung, Willung South, Wurruk.
On Saturday morning, the fire was travelling in a north-easterly direction towards the towns of Kilmany, Fulum and Wurruk after burning out 2500 hectares of a pine plantation.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said three groups of firefighters were forced to take cover when they "found themselves in a very serious situation" when the wind changed on Friday evening.
"They were working at the eastern flank, which becomes the front when the wind changes," Mr Crisp said.
He said about 40 firefighters had come under threat and "were shaken as a result of it".
The firefighters were uninjured but a truck, trailer and a bulldozer belonging to Forest Fire Management Victoria were destroyed.
The fire came close to burning one house but no homes have been lost and at this stage none are under immediate threat.
Mr Crisp said there were no known livestock losses but it was believed a lot of native animals had perished.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Lisa Neville recognised the work of the fire services.
“We are reminded today that firefighting is extremely dangerous. We saw that last night. It remains a very dangerous profession," she said.
Ms Neville warned Victorians that they faced a long hot summer and that residents in areas of risk should have a fire plan ready.
Emergency Management Victoria will lead an investigation into the Rosedale blaze.
Mr Crisp said the Rosedale fire was one of 200 across the state on Friday when Melbourne recorded its hottest day in five years with a top temperature of 42.6 degrees.
A 64-hectare fire in Strathbogie, near Bonnie Doon in the state's north, is also believed to have been deliberately lit on the scorching day.
State Response Controller Tim Wiebusch said the Strathbogie fire was still burning but was largely under control. A community meeting will be held at 10am on Saturday at the Strathbogie Hall on Main Street with representatives from the CFA, Victoria Police and Strathbogie Council.
Mr Wiebusch said it would take firefighters at least another 24 hours to get the Rosedale blaze contained but that milder firefighting conditions were forecast for the next 72 hours.
He said an aerial bomber had been used to douse parts of the fire overnight, the first time such equipment has been used in Australia.
There will be a community meeting today at Longford Community Centre at 3pm.
An emergency relief centre was established at the Sale Baptist Church on the Princes Highway late on Friday night and 21 people stayed overnight.
Temperatures at East Sale Airport, the closest weather monitoring station to Rosedale, peaked at 43.7 degrees at 4pm on Friday, before a cool change started to pass through the area just after 6pm.
Local resident, Richard Crooke, who lives on the Rosedale-Longford Road told ABC Gippsland the fire came right up to his property overnight, causing damage to fencing.
"It actually ran on the boundary fence most of the way along the property," he said. "Around about the 12-kilometre mark, it actually jumped the road and it burnt out a considerable amount of fencing down at my brother's property."
"We were fairly worried and my wife and family were busy. We had a lot of water out, we had hoses up on the roof and stuff like that.
"Our daughter and her husband stayed with us, because the fire was right in the path of their house, they're down on Kelly's Road and we were very concerned about that going up but luckily the CFA were down there and some road graders and they pretty much had it under control by the time it got down there."
"It's cooled down now. But the fire's still burning. It's burning a huge amount of pine forest and also the Holey Plain National Park has been burnt right out on the northern side."
Ryan Heritage-Gorrie, who lives on Rosedale-Longford Road, said on Friday night that the fire seemed to be skirting around Rosedale.
"If the wind changes westerly, we will [evacuate]," he said.
He described an "eerie glow" in the area as the bushfire burned through hectares of bush and farmland.
Megan Burkimsher was leaving for a road trip to Bairnsdale with her wife on Friday afternoon when they saw smoke billowing over the freeway, followed by a thunderstorm over Traralgon.
"It was pretty scary. It was like a glorious sunset, but instead of a sunset it was the whole sky lit up in bright orange from the flames," she said.
"Flames were leaping so high in the air - I couldn’t tell exactly but tens of metres or maybe more. Many times the heights of the trees. The wind was wild, and fanning the flames like I’ve never seen before, obviously causing the fire to spread rapidly.
"Passing the refuge centre at the Baptist Church in Sale we could see the car park there was filling up quickly," she said.
with Erin Pearson and Craig Butt