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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Taylor (now) Naaman Zhou and Calla Wahlquist and Helen Davidson (earlier)

Blazes flare amid extreme conditions in Australia – as it happened

Firefighters watch a helicopter water bomb bushland
Water-bombing helicopters fight a fire in the Southern Highlands. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Summary

We are wrapping up the live blog now, but we will be back at 7am AEDT for the latest on the fires.

As of 9pm, this is what we know.

In New South Wales, there are three emergency warning fires: Dunns Road, East Ournie Creek, Green Valley. All three blazes have merged and are located in the Snowy Valley region near the Victoria border.

A 90km/h southerly is worsening conditions in NSW, and one male firefighter in his mid-20s suffered burns to his face fighting fires in the Snowy Valley region.

The Green Valley fire is now 233,000 hectares in size, and is moving to Mundaroo, Tumbarumba and Mannus.

Another three fires are at watch-and-act level.

The southerly will continue up New South Wales and reach Sydney at around 2am. The RFS has warned a new fire in Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains could take a turn around midnight when the change sweeps through.

In Victoria there are eight fires at emergency warning level:

  • Noorinbee and surrounding areas
  • Walwa fire and surrounding areas
  • Abbeyard fire 8km east-south-east of Abbeyard, travelling north-west towards the King Valley Area
  • Mount Buffalo fire travelling in a north-easterly direction towards Bright
  • Harrietville fire, currently travelling towards Myrtleford
  • Two additional warnings for the Abbeyard fire for Davenport Village, Dinner Plain, Happy Valley and a number of towns close by
  • Wodonga for a grass fire that is out of control

An additional four fires are at watch and act level. A southerly has been passing through Victoria on its way to New South Wales. Severe thunderstorm predictions did not come to pass, but the CFA has warned conditions could worsen tonight.

For up-to-date information on the fires in NSW, click here.

For up-to-date information on the fires in Victoria, click here.

Until tomorrow, stay safe.

Updated

There’s now what media (but not RFS) refer to as a megablaze in the Kosciuszko national park with three fires at emergency level in that area of southern NSW, just near the Victorian border.

There’s also concern that a fire at watch-and-act level in Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains could worsen around midnight once the southerly reaches there. People in the Wentworth Falls and Leura areas are being advised to stay alert.

Emergency warning for East Ournie Creek

There are also reports the Green Valley fire, which the East Ournie Creek fire has merged with, has also merged with the fire on the other side of the border with Victoria.

We are expecting an update from the RFS shortly.

Updated

Here’s some video of the grass fire in Wodonga.

CFA now warns the grass fire in Wodonga is travelling towards Killara in addition to Baranduda.

People are being advised to seek shelter indoors immediately because it is too late to leave.

Emergency warning for Green Valley

NSW RFS has issued an emergency warning for Green Valley, Talmalmo.

The fire is burning east and north of Jingellic. It is too late to leave, and residents are advised to seek shelter.

Emergency warning for Wodonga

An emergency warning has been issued for a grass fire out of control at Beechworth-Wodonga Rd, Wodonga.

The fire is travelling in an easterly direction towards Baranduda.

Updated

The Bureau of Meteorology in Victoria has cancelled its severe thunderstorm warning for the East Gippsland and north-east districts. The immediate threat of thunderstorms has passed but warnings could still be issued if the situation changes, Bom says.

Updated

Rain has fallen across Kangaroo Island today, and the warning levels have been reduced, but properties have still been lost and firefighters injured, AAP reports.

Assessments are underway, but some homes are believed lost at Vivonne Bay while the town of Parndana was spared for a second time, despite fire bearing down on it from several directions.

Both towns had been evacuated amid emergency warnings and the escalating danger.

Two Country Fire Service trucks were involved in burn-overs and two more CFS personnel were injured, taking the total hurt on Kangaroo Island to 22.

Nine News is reporting people in Mogo were being denied disaster payments from Centrelink because the maps the government has show the fires didn’t burn near their properties.

As usually happens with these things, the people featured in the story were given their payments after media intervened.

Updated

Another aerial shot of the Sydney protest.

Daniel Andrews talked about the evacuation of Harrietville in that press conference. Let me tell you about another fire in Harrietville, seven years ago.

It explains a lot about the risk assessment process that is currently used by firefighters in Victoria.

On 13 February 2013, firefighters Steven Kadar, 34, and Katie Peters, 19, were travelling in a convoy heading out of the Buckland Valley.

They had been working on a backburning operation at the Pheasant Creek Track, a 4WD track in a heavily forested mountainous region north of Omeo.

It was an alpine ash forest. Tree clearing crews were in there at the same time — unusual, as that’s usually done first. Thunderstorm activity was picking up. When the call came to get out, Kadar and Peters were the first ute in line when a “giant” alpine ash did what alpine ash is wont to do in hot weather and strong winds, and fell to the ground, crushing their vehicle.

They were the third and fourth firefighters to die that season.

Peters was on her gap year and had picked up a summer firefighting gig. A lot of Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) firefighters — they are the ones in green overalls — are in the same position. Kadar was a career firefighter with nine years experience. He had earlier expressed concern about the risk of falling trees.

An inquest in 2015 made ten recommendations around the need to improve communication between the fireground and incident control, two-way relaying of weather information, and improved safety provisions.

If you are wondering why the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and FFMV has appeared extremely cautious in pulling firefighters out of certain situations, this is partly why.

This inquest is built on findings from the Black Saturday royal commission. It’s also why, if you have ever done a fire briefing in Victoria, you would have heard a lot about “red flag warnings”.

A red flag warning is issued when there is “a significant change to any critical information that may adversely affect the safety of personnel located at an emergency”. It is given priority over any radio traffic except a mayday call.

This is from DELWP’s response to the coroner’s report:

Communications and awareness, policies and procedures, and staff capability, are all required as no single measure alone will fully mitigate the risk to staff safety. The Department is also actively working on creating a safety culture across the workforce that embeds a sense of collective responsibility with everyone being encouraged to be aware of safety risks and speaking up about possible safety compromises.

Updated

A sea of umbrellas in Melbourne.

We have an update now from the NSW RFS commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons.

He says there is a new fire in the Blue Mountains near Faulconbridge. Firefighters are also concerned about a fire north of Coonabarabran.

Firefronts around the Eden district and Bega are not as bad as the RFS thought they would be and are quite contained at this stage, he says.

Updated

Huuuuge.

A shot of the size of the crowd in Sydney.

The latest from NSW.

We are getting some photos come through on Twitter from the various climate protests around Australia.

The Australian Academy of Science has issued a strongly worded statement calling on the government to do more on climate change in the wake of the bushfire crisis.

The president of the academy, John Shine, suggests the response to the fires should be sweeping and transformative, including Australia taking stronger action on climate to reflect its part in the worldwide commitment made in Paris to limit global warming to as close to 1.5C as possible.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has downplayed the role Australia can play in addressing the climate crisis, saying nothing it did to reduce emissions would have changed this bushfire season.

Shine says the scale of the bushfires is unprecedented anywhere in the world, and offers the academy’s sympathy to those who have lost loved ones and been directly and indirectly affected:

“The scientific evidence base shows that as the world warms due to human induced climate change, we experience an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

As a nation, we must deal with extreme weather events more effectively than we currently do. As such events become more frequent and severe, we must adapt Australia and Australians accordingly, as well as strengthen mitigation efforts.

Australia must take stronger action as it’s part of the worldwide commitment to limit global warming to 1.5C above the long-term average to reduce the worst impacts of climate change.

To have the best chance of succeeding, we must draw on all the available evidence and knowledge, including working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and undertaking further research where it will have the most benefit.”

On the climate protests about to kick off in capital cities across the country, Andrews says people have the right to protest, but claims (despite Victoria Police saying otherwise) that the protest will “divert resources away from critical needs”.

He also took a kick at the former Liberal government on climate change policy.

“Our government is very proud to have not just talked about climate change, but to have got on and taken real action to deal with it. That is very different to, perhaps, other governments, that have been in power in our state. We are very proud of that.”

He said the states need to be part of any federal review of the bushfire season, whether or not that takes the form of a royal commission.

Updated

Crisp reiterates: “Today is not over.”

The next four hours will be crucial.

Crisp says while people have the right to stay in their home, it does make it difficult for firefighters.

Andrews says it can be the difference between saving a home and saving a life.

If your plan, as good as your plan might be, if it relies on a CFA truck or a forest fire management truck or anybody else from the emergency services being at your front gate and you receive a warning on the text, then you need to go.

Because what that warning is telling you is that we will not be able to be there for you, and even if we were, the ferocity of these fires, we couldn’t guarantee your safety.

Updated

Police minister Lisa Neville says in Bright and Harrietville, large containers containing satellite phones, baby formula, food, nappies and torches have been put in preparation for the possibility that those two areas could be cut off.

This is the first time a deployment of supplies has been made before fires hit those communities.

Updated

Emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp is now providing more info.

It’s a couple of hours before the change in weather, he said, and there are two or three hours after the change where there will be strong, squally winds.

It is expected that there will be up to 15mm rain in an area north of Bairnsdale and there could be the potential for flash flooding.

He reiterates that the fire in the Snowy region of NSW will join with the one in the alpine region of Victoria today.

Updated

“These next few hours will be very, very challenging”, Andrews says. The areas of most concern are around the fire around Mount Buffalo, the fire above Cann River, and the communities like Bruthen and Buchan.

At the moment there is no one unaccounted for, no more people have died, and no more communities are cut off, but he says that can change quickly.

Updated

Here’s the latest update on Victoria from premier Daniel Andrews:

There are 21 going fires, more than 1.3 million hectares burnt out. We have three evacuate now notices issued, seven emergency warnings and around a dozen watch and act advice in a dozen communities.

Even with rain and forecast better conditions next week, Andrews says that there is a long way to go and it is very early on in the fire season.

A total of 286 residential properties have been damaged or destroyed in Victoria, and 400 outbuildings damaged or destroyed.

Here is how the rain is travelling in Victoria.

Emergency warning issued for Bright

An emergency warning has now been issued with Bright, Eurobin, Happy Valley, Kancoona South, Ovens, Porepunkah, Rosewhite and Kancoona.

People are still advised to leave now before conditions become too dangerous.

Lots of smoke around Mount Buffalo now.

Victorians told to evacuate before 7.50pm

People in Victoria’s north east and East Gippland regions are being told they need to evacuate soon.

From AAP:

A cool change passing through the state will bring strong southwesterly winds of 70km/h to 100km/h to the regions about 7pm on Friday.

People in alpine towns have been warned they can evacuate until 7.50pm, but then it will be too late to leave.

“Evacuation after this time is considered life threatening”, the VicEmergency warning reads.

“Shelter indoors when the fire arrives – protect yourself from the radiant heat.”

Six emergency alerts are in place while three evacuation alerts have been issued.

Relief centres are set up in Bonegilla, Myrtleford and Wangaratta for evacuees.

Luke Heagerty from the State Control Centre says there is a “real possibility” the fires in the region will merge with those near the NSW border.

“What we’re hoping is that with the rainfall that’s coming with this change there will be at least some moisture in the air, which we know does slow the spread of fires”, he told 3AW.

“So we’re hoping that bit of rainfall could at least avoid the merging of some of those fires or the spread of other fires in Victoria.”

Despite the expected up to 10mm of rainfall, it is “highly likely” dozens of blazes will merge, and the fires are expected to go for some weeks.

The rainfall could also create slippery conditions for firefighting vehicles.

Updated

Josh Taylor here taking over from my colleague Naaman Zhou, taking you into this evening with condition worsening.

Thanks to Naaman for running the blog this afternoon.

Our data team have also updated our animated graphic of how the fires have spread – looking at specific fires all across the country.

The East Ournie Creek fire (which stretches to the Victorian border) is now only 300m away from merging with the Dunns Road fire.

It is almost inevitable that many fires in the south will join, Fitzsimmons says.

There has been increased fire activity around the Tumut and Tumbarumba area, he says.

“That’s resulting in a couple of the fires continuing to join up in a number of locations. We will end up with, at the end of today and whatever happens tonight, with another complex of fires that have all joined together to create another large challenge.”

In good news, Fitzsimmons says the fires near Kosciuszko national park are not posing any threat to the ski resorts of Thredbo and Perisher.

Fires today are staying within the RFS’s predicted spread map, Fitzsimmons says, but “we still have many hours to go of these north westerlies strengthening ahead of the frontal activity”.

That new fire in the Blue Mountains is not a threat to homes, he says, and is “still a few kilometres north of the townships”.

Water bombing aircraft are up and blanketing that fire.

Two new fires in NSW started by lightning

RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons and premier Gladys Berejiklian are speaking now.

They say that two new fires have sprung up – the emergency fire near Coonabarabran, and one in the Blue Mountains.

Indications are both were started by lightning strikes, Fitzsimmons says.

An update on the new emergency fire near Coonabarabran. The Newell Highway is now closed between Coonabarabran and Narrabri. The fire is moving southwest.

But the Oxley highway is still open north to south.

The message to properties nearby is to shelter in place.

These fires are about 1.3km apart.

I’ve just had a chat to a semi-retired bulldozer operator at Whorouly in northeast Victoria, where the Abbeyard fire is burning at an emergency warning level.

Doug Hamilton’s family company handles local earthmoving and fire-break contracts for Hancocks Victorian Plantation Holdings (which owns the pine plantations which flank the hills on the way to Bright) as well as the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the CFA. They have about 15 bulldozers in the field building fire breaks today but Hamilton is not coordinating that.

He’s at their home and business headquarters at Whorouly, which is also under an evacuation alert, preparing it for the possible arrival of fire.

Asked how this compared to other fire seasons he had experienced in the Ovens region, he said: “I don’t recall anything so big as this, so early in the season. And this is not about to go out either, I don’t think.”

The Victorian alpine region, including the area around Mt Buffalo, burned in 2002-2003, 2006-2007 and 2009. The total area burned in Victoria so far this summer has already exceeded those fires, topping 1.2m hectares.

Hamilton again: “It’s not good. It’s not a lot of fun. I feel for everyone involved. There would be nothing like four inches of good rain right about now.”

The main Abbeyard fire is currently 60,000ha in size and spot fires have been reported at its western edge, at Whorouly South and Carboor. There’s an emergency warning current for the King Valley and Whitfield on the western edge, and Mt Hotham which is sandwiched between that and another fire.

Evacuate now warnings have been issued for three sides of the Abbeyard fire, taking in almost all of the King and Ovens River valleys.

Updated

I’ve spent the past day or so seeking some clarification around the NSW and Queensland compensation schemes for volunteer firefighters.

This week the Queensland government released details about its scheme. NSW’s is expected to be the same but they haven’t released as much detail.

  • The federally-funded but state-administered scheme provides for “income lost” by firefighters, capped at $300 per day, depending on what the individual earns after tax, up to a total of $6,000 per firefighter, with proof of lost income.
  • They must have volunteered as part of an operational response to bushfires or provided direct operational support between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020, and it doesn’t include non-emergency operations such as hazard reduction burns, or catering and brigade support.
  • Eligible volunteers must have experienced loss of income from being self-employed, or from being an employee of a business with annual turnover of less than $50m, and who has exhausted all paid leave entitlements (not including long service leave, annual recreational leave, or sick leave).
  • Casual employees can claim for lost income if they were volunteering on a day they were rostered to work.

However, the eligibility requirements released this week have caused concern. Below are clarifications or responses to those concerns.

The payments only kick in after a volunteer has spent 10 days in total on the fireground, and only pays for the loss of income in the days which follow.

A spokesman for natural disaster response minister, David Littleproud, defended the threshold.

“The 10 days volunteering is a qualifying period for the government’s reimbursement for volunteer firefighters. This is a sensible period of volunteering before being eligible for the reimbursement.”

The RFSA also defended it, saying the vast majority of volunteers are happy putting their time in and they haven’t heard many complaints about people really suffering, although a few people have said they’ll be applying to the scheme.

The compensation payments cover only the hours of work lost – for instance, someone who misses a 9am-5pm work day to fight a fire until 11pm will only be paid for eight hours’ work.

This is true, however Guardian Australia understands a volunteer would be covered for lost income if they were unable to go to work because they had been fighting fires all through the previous night and needed to sleep. There is some confusion around this, though. The Queensland scheme helpline wasn’t across the details so much, and the NSW government directed queries to Littleproud.

Self-employed farmers have also balked at the scheme, querying how they can prove lost income.

“The real problem is that, even in a good season, and we’re in the worst season this area has ever experienced, we don’t have a regular workday income,” Burnett Creek grazier Glenn Fearby told the Fassifern Guardian, which first reported the restrictions.

Guardian Australia understands this part of the scheme is still being worked on but that it is expected to use current provisions for quantifying the value of a particular farmer’s income value in a day, and it would take into account the season but not the drought.

First NSW emergency alert today

The RFS have just issued the first emergency alert for a fire in NSW today. Multiple fires have reached emergency in Victoria already.

The fire is “spreading quickly northeast of Coonabarabran”.

“If you are in Dandry Rd, Tandarra & Galaxy Estate, you are at risk. It is too late to leave.”

Conditions will worsen across NSW as the southerly comes through. The bureau have just also issued an updated wind prediction – it will come through later than previously thought.

Temperatures in Wagga Wagga have hit 41.7C, and are at 40C in Albury, as of a few minutes ago. Fire authorities have fears today that fires in the Snowy Valley will merge soon.

In Victoria, Rutherglen near the NSW border is also at 40C. The bureau of meteorology’s observation station in nearby Corryong is unavailable due to signal losses, and the station in Combienbar, which is being evacuated, is out due to power loss.

Updated

And a reminder that if you are a university student or employee, you could also be eligible for disaster payments if affected by the fires.

And in yet more sport – Commonwealth Bank have revealed themselves to be the buyer of Shane Warne’s baggy green, which sold for over a million dollars in a charity auction. The bank will donate the cap to the Bradman Museum in Bowral.

Speaking of football, The Matildas have just begun their charity auction too.

First up: Hayley Raso’s game boots from the World Cup.

A-League mascots pitch in

One for the football fans out there. A range of A-League clubs have raised money this month – offering signed shirts, charity matches and more. In other sports, Nick Kyrgios, Ash Barty, Shane Warne and dozens of sportspeople have raised millions.

Today, the Central Coast Mariners have perhaps topped them all, with a unique experience that would make any hardened A-League fan’s heart flutter. You could be inside the legendary Masterfoods sauce bottle mascot costume.

For those who need reminding, the sauce bottle achieved infamy when it was caught on camera giving the finger to visiting fans. It has since gone down in A-League folklore.

Data editor Nick Evershed went the extra mile to confirm that this is happening with the full blessing of the NSW club.

Anyone who donates will be in the running to enter the costume – with terms to be finalised.

Updated

The CFA have issued a new emergency warning for Ensay, Swifts Creek, Brookville and surrounding areas in Victoria’s East Gippsland.

“Fire activity has increased significantly this afternoon. The south-west wind change is due between 4-6pm and may cause spot fires in private property around Swifts Creek, Brookville and Ensay.

“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. The safest option is to take shelter indoors immediately. It is too late to leave.”

Updated

In America, Trevor Noah and The Daily Show has done a segment on the fires, and their climate change links – plus a global call to donate.

Updated

Emergency ADF National Support Coordinator, Maj Gen Justin “Jake” Ellwood, just finished his daily briefing.

Ellwood confirmed there are now just under 2,000 reservists on duty to assist with the bushfire effort, as well as three ships providing support and numerous aircraft.

The situation on Kangaroo Island worsened at 5am today, so the ADF dispatched a C130 and a C17 aircraft to a nearby RAAF base on standby ready to assist.

“We thought it prudent to have additional assets in location just in case,” he said.

Two air mobile teams are at the ready to launch if required in the Snowy and Alpine regions today.

The Choules will land at 15.30 AEST in Mallacoota to provide more resources. The ADF have also established an emergency route to Mallacoota that is only accessible via defence’s armoured vehicles.

One hundred personnel have also been set up in Tasmania on 48 hours notice to move in case conditions there worsen.

Updated

The exaggerated claims about arson are not restricted to English-language media.

We shared this earlier but suspect we will be posting it a lot over the next few weeks: police in Victoria say the arson claim is not true.

Updated

Hi all, this is Naaman Zhou taking over the blog for a while. Thanks to Calla and Helen for their work today.

Lt Col John Pearce, from the Australian army, told reporters in Bairnsdale that ADF personnel had helped Victoria Police conduct aerial evacuations at Combienbar.

He confirmed that some locals in the region, which is on the northern edge of the largest Gippsland fire, had refused to leave but said he could not give numbers on how many people had been evacuated, and how many remained.

The helicopters are currently on their way back to the airbase in Sale.

As the wind picks up over the next 24 hours, Pearce said, the helicopters will be grounded:

The winds are picking up so it is getting dangerous for helicopter operations... The helicopters will be on the ground until the winds come down. The turbulence is severe.

Updated

Helicopters used to evacuate East Gippsland community of Combienbar

The incident controller Brett Mitchell for the Gippsland fires is addressing the media in Bairnsdale right now.

He says fire activity is increasing, and will continue to do so until the wind change arrives between 4pm and 7pm tonight. That wind change will push the fire into private property around Omeo and Swifts Creek.

Mitchell says they currently have water-bombing aircraft putting out spot fires at Buchan South, which has just been made subject to an emergency warning, as well as Omeo and Swifts Creek. An emergency warning for the Omeo and Swifts Creek region will be issued soon, he said.

That wind change will bring winds of up to 70-100km/h as well as a chance of severe thunderstorms with both dry lightning in some parts and rainfall of between 15-20mm per hour in others. That rain is welcome, but it could impact on roads.

The key message for me, not only about the rainfall but the fire situation now, particularly in those affected communities, is leave early and leave now if it is safe to do so. Monitor that wind change closely because it will be erratic and increased fire activity significantly.

The fire at Combienbar, which was subject to an evacuation now warning today, is being managed out of Orbost. Mitchell said he believes an ADF helicopter had been sent to pull people out.

Mitchell:

I am led to believe the Australian Defence Force sent a helicopter in there to evacuate people out of Combienbar but I am not across that detail.

Mitchell said an evacuation now warning, like that at Combienbar, is different to a mass community evacuation, which must be coordinated ahead of time.

An evacuation of the community needs to occur early, like 24 hours ahead.

Mitchell said the increased fire activity from the wind change could last until midnight.

Let’s check in with South Australia and the fire burning on Kangaroo Island.

Two people died and 22 people have been injured in that fire, AAP has reported, including CFS volunteers who were injured in a burn-over of two fire trucks.

More from that report by AAP:

On Friday morning the town of Emu Bay also came under threat, with residents moved to the nearby beach but the CFS said the situation had also eased.

So far more than 170,000 hectares of scrub has been burnt, including most of the famed Flinders Chase National Park, along with dozens of homes and hundreds of other buildings.

In response to the situation, the ferry service from the SA mainland was asked to restrict travel to freight, local residents and emergency service personnel but that decision was expected to be reviewed later on Friday.

The overnight escalation in fire activity cut power to more properties with about 850 now without electricity.

SA Power Networks said its crews had been relocated to Penneshaw for safety reasons and would wait for CFS clearance before re-entering the fire zone.

The fire was sparked by lightning on 20 December and escalated rapidly last Friday and Saturday, when Dick Lang and his son Clayton were killed as they returned to their family property.

The operators of the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park have been defending their animals against the out-of-control bushfire which has burned through more than a third of the island.

They posted this update on their social media channels:

Thank you to everyone for your messages and thoughts. The park is currently safe although we are still under threat. Sam, our dad’s, brother and manager Billy are all at the park defending our an animals. We are not out of the woods yet but have an amazing team protecting us .

They said they are not currently taking donations of supplies like towels and pouches until they figure out what they need.

Veterinarians from the Australian army provided urgent care to wildlife — mainly koalas, kangaroos, eagles and possums — in the immediate aftermath of the fire.

Updated

Tony Abbott volunteering with the RFS in the Snowy Mountains

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has been spotted among volunteer firefighters stationed near the Snowy Mountains, 115 kilometres south of Canberra, AAP has reported.

The former prime minister received a briefing at Adaminaby, near the Snowy Mountains, where a fire is burning out of control.

Firefighters are bracing for extreme conditions across Victoria, NSW and the ACT.

“I’m one of 70,000 RFS volunteers — let’s hope all of us stay safe and do good work,” Mr Abbott told reporters on Friday.

“The fire season has been the same for me as for everyone else, it’s been long, it’s been arduous.”

Hot weather and strong winds threaten to fan existing blazes burning through the Snowy Mountains region.

Meanwhile, a senior News Corp employee has sent an explosive reply-all email to executive chairman Michael Miller, accusing the company of “misinformation” and diverting attention from climate change during the bushfire crisis.

Chris Knaus as all the details.

Fires in the Snowy Mountains expected to merge "imminently"

If you look at the active fire map on the NSW Rural Fire Service website, you will see two fires burning in the alpine region along the NSW/Victorian border that appear to be burning closer and closer together.

According to a spokesman from the RFS, if those fires have not yet merged today, they are likely to do so “imminently”.

The spokesman told Guardian Australia that the East Ournie Creek fire (that’s the Corryong fire on the NSW side of the border) was only, according to the latest mapping, “a few hundred meters” from the Dunns Road fire (the large fire burning in the Snowys and into Kosciuszko National Park).

The fires appear to be meeting in the vicinity of Clarkes Hill Nature Reserve.

Updated

The Perich clan, a wealthy rural family who are behind Australia’s biggest dairy farming group, are donating $1m to the NSW Farmers Natural Disaster Relief Fund.

Money from the donation will be used to support dairy farmers and other primary producers who have had their farms burned, been unable to feed or water their stock or distribute milk, the NSW Farmers Association said.

The Perich family owns Australian Fresh Milk Holdings, the country’s biggest dairy farmer, which milks more than 10,000 cows.

Brothers Tony and Ron Perich run the family empire.

“We want this money to reach the farmers and NSW Farmers will make sure that happens,” Tony Perich said.

“We want others to join us in supporting this bushfire appeal, our donation is a start and we will encourage everyone we know to help too.”

NSW Farmers president James Jackson said the organisation would be talking to charities to see what direct aid could be immediately provided to dairy farmers.

“Once the immediate emergency has passed we will work with impacted farmers to provide ongoing support and implement measures to enhance sustainability of these farm businesses,” he said.

Updated

A message from the CFA board

The board of the CFA just issued this message in support of thousands of CFA volunteers, who have been fighting fires across the state, and interstate, for weeks.

The board was briefed at the state control centre in Melbourne this week.

Chairman Greg Smith said the board “has been impressed with the commitment of CFA members, both staff and volunteers, who are giving up their time and leaving family and work commitments to support the intensive bushfire effort”.

Smith said some volunteers had lost their own homes while protecting their communities. He said the focus would be on the welfare of volunteers and other CFA staff.

The Board is also ensuring there is a general focus on mental health for those who have participated in this long campaign, with reporting by the CEO/CO on measures to regularly reinforce the emphasis on the welfare and safety of CFA members.

Updated

Back in Victoria now. There is also an evacuation alert and emergency warning current for an out-of-control grassfire at Combienbar in East Gippsland. It’s on the edge of the border fire.

Firefighters were pulled out of the area late yesterday, and they are attempting to get aerial support in to place today.

Back to Western Australia, WA Police have charged a 25-year-old man with arson, for allegedly lighting a bushfire in Australind, which is a beachside suburb near Bunbury, on 20 December.

The man is alleged to have deliberately set a grass fire near the Collie River and caused a fire that he was not able to control. The fire was reported by a member of the public and extinguished. The charge of wilfully light or cause to be lit a fire likely to injure or damage carries a maximum sentence of 20 years jail. The man will face court in Bunbury today.

Importantly: this does not mean that reports arson is to blame for this catastrophic bushfire season are suddenly correct. They are still not.

You can read Chris Knaus’s earlier reports about the “disinformation campaign” exaggerating the role of arson this bushfire season and there being no evidence that arson is responsible for any of the devastating fires in Victoria.

To New South Wales now. The biggest fire threat today is in the Snowy Mountains but there are still active fires and a lot of smoke around the south coast.

Surf Life Saving NSW has released a list of beach closures.

This is the map of forecast fire spread in NSW today.

We reported yesterday that there is a risk, according to Victorian emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp, that fires burning on either side of the border near Corryong in Victoria and Dunns Road fire in NSW could join. You can see that shown in that fire spread map.

There is also a risk, Crisp said, that the Abbeyard fire could join with the East Gippsland fire, and those fires could also join a merged Corryong-Dunns Road fire.

Updated

Third evacuation warning issued for Abbeyard fire

Authorities in Victoria have issued a third evacuation alert for communities on the edges of the Abbeyard fire, which is threatening the King and Ovens Valleys in northeast Victoria.

Emergency alerts for the western side of the fire — the King Valley, and Carboor and surrounds, remain in place.

The new evacuation alert is for the northern flank of the fire down to Harrietville, in preparation for the forecast south-westerly wind change.

The communities listed in the new alert are: Brookside, Buckland, Buffalo Creek, Buffalo River, Dunphys Hill, Eurobin, Freeburgh, Harrietville, Merriang, Merriang South, Mount Buffalo, Salt Log, Selwyn, Smoko, Wandiligong, Buckland Junction, and Germantown.

It means that everyone within a set distance west or north of the fire has been told to leave.

The warning is current until 3.30pm today. After that point it may be too late to leave, and authorities have warned that if people choose to stay firefighters may not be able to help them.

There are evacuation centres set up in Wangaratta, at the performing arts centre and the showgrounds if you have animals.

Let’s go to Western Australia now where a bushfire at Baldivis on the eastern fringe of Perth is burning at a watch and act level.

The fire has been contained, but authorities warn that “unfavourable wind conditions” may cause it to breach those containment lines. About 180 firefighters are currently on the ground working to strengthen those containment lines.

The fire was reported yesterday and has burned through 1,205ha in less than 24 hours. The cause has been listed as accidental, and reporters on the ground have identified a possible cause: a boat, found abandoned on its trailer on Karnup Road.

This is from ABC24 reporter, James Carmody:

The boat was being towed on the road on a trailer when it appears as if the tyres on the boat had burst, and that trailer was dragged along the road.

We have seen the gouges in that road, that appears to have sparked a grass fire on the edge of Karnup Road. It wasn’t particularly hot yesterday but with the extreme winds coming through, that picked up the fire and saw it race north-east through dozens of private properties, paddocks and bushland here.

This message just came through from the UK High Commission:

A team of UK experts is travelling to Australia to scope how the UK can best contribute to the Australian response to the unprecedented bushfires causing devastation across the country.

As a first step in the UK’s support for Australia, this team will include a senior member of the UK Fire and Rescue Service, a medical specialist in trauma and mental health, and a military liaison officer, specialising in crisis response.

They will work with Australian colleagues to establish what type, extent and duration of support will be of most use to the emergency responders, and ensure that such contributions are fully integrated with Australian efforts.

These specialists will liaise with regional coordinators across a number of states as well as with the central Australian government. This engagement will inform options for a future UK contribution, which would focus on areas of most pressing Australian need, including where the UK has world leading capabilities and expertise.

The deployment comes following exchanges between the prime minister, foreign secretary and their Australian counterparts.

On the deployment, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said:

Australia is one of our strongest and oldest friends and we are utterly distraught about the devastation caused by these catastrophic bushfires – including the tragic loss of life and of precious biodiversity.

Despite being on opposite sides of the world, our bond is a close one, and we will do all that is possible to help them respond to and recover from this tragic situation.

Updated

Emergency Victoria just issued an updated evacuation warning for communities northwest of the Abbeyard fire.

The communities of Dandongadale, Merriang South, Mount Buffalo, Buffalo River and Nug Nug have been advised to evacuate ahead of fire and ember attacks.

There is also an evacuation warning current for Bennies, Cheshunt South, Markous, Rose River, Top Crossing, Wabonga and Upper Rose River, which are under threat from the same fire.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds in Victoria (the northeast, East Gippsland, and south Gippsland coast) and New South Wales (in a broad line from Broken Hill/Tibooburra and down to Albury and the southern highlands, and also the Illawarra coast).

The damaging winds will reach between 65km-90km/h and are timed with that south-westerly change, which means they will impact fire weather and also possibly cause falling trees in areas previously impacted by fire.

Updated

The Victorian Farmers Federation has put together a register of people offering free agistment, or “cow parking”, for people affected by the bushfires.

The fires on the south coast of NSW, particularly the Bega Valley, as well as those in the Upper Murray and East Gippsland regions have impacted key dairy farming areas. Senior business reporter Ben Butler wrote more on that here.

People and smaller pets looking for accomodation after the fires can check out Find-a-bed, a volunteer-led service that popped up in response to the bushfire crisis. (More on its origin here.)

Updated

Michael Pengilly is the mayor of Kangaroo Island and a former state Liberal member for the seat of Finniss, which is on the mainland around Victor Harbour.

As of yesterday, more than one third of Kangaroo Island had burned and remaining sections were under threat.

This is a map of Kangaroo Island from the SA Country Fire Service website this morning.

The blue section has already burned, the yellow section is under a watch and act alert. People who do not need to be on the island were advised to leave, and some residents have been cut off due to road closures, the ABC has reported.

Anyway. If you want to adopt our politics live blogger Amy Remeikis, please ensure you first believe in the man-made climate emergency.

Updated

It’s Calla Wahlquist here, taking over from Helen Davidson.

I want to look to the Abbeyard fire in Northeast Victoria first, which has triggered emergency warning and evacuate now alerts for the King Valley and Carboor on the western front of that fire today.

Water authorities have told residents they will be turning off sprinklers in unattended houses to conserve water for firefighting efforts. That is likely to stress out some residents, who often put the sprinkler on the roof before evacuating.

This is from the Emergency Victoria alert:

People are urged to conserve tap water as much as possible, so that the town’s don’t run out of water before a fire front arrives. North East Water staff and other authorised officers have been directed to enter unattended properties to turn-off garden sprinkler.

A “leave now” warning was issued for most of eastern Victoria late yesterday, advising that everyone east of a line from Bairnsdale to Corryong, and dog-legging west around Mount Buffalo, should leave the area if they do not need to remain.

The Abbeyard fire is now about 80km long, and has been creeping west toward Carboor, just south of Mount Buffalo. It is being pushed west this morning but the biggest danger will come later this evening, when a south-westerly wind change will convert the northern flank into an 80km-wide fire front. Bright is about 20km north of the fire.

Residents in the King Valley, Carboor and surrounds, Edi, Myrrhee, and surrounding localities have been advised to evacuate now, via the Carboor-Everton Road, if they’re at the Carboor side, and via the King Valley-Wangaratta Road, from the King Valley.

Evacuation centres have been set up in Wangaratta, with a information and registration centre at the Myrtleford library.

Morrison is again asked about the government’s position on climate change, questioned on whether he needs to do more, and whether he might revisit the national energy guarantee - a policy that Morrison previously supported before a conservative uprising within government ranks caused it to be dumped by former PM Malcolm Turnbull.

When asked if he accepted that these type of bushfire events would become more common, Morrison said the government had “covered that a number of times now.”

“There’ll be the reviews that take place as you would expect and I’ve already indicated in response to questions that we’ll be working closely with state and territory authorities on how they are undertaken,” Morrison said.

“But the links and implications here have been acknowledged.”

When asked if he accepted that community sentiment had shifted on climate change as a result of the bushfire season, and this might warrant a review of policy, including the national energy guarantee, Morrison does not bite.

“I accept community sentiment today when we have got extreme fire conditions in New South Wales and Victoria, would have me absolutely 100% focused on ensuring the response effort that may have to roll in the next 24 hours is ready to go, and that I’ve given the order of the Defence Forces to be ready to go and get in there.”

“That’s what I believe the community wants me focused on right now.”

It’s worth mentioning that this press conference was not 100% focused on the response effort. It began with obviously important briefings on the Iran situation. So he should have been able to answer questions on this.

The Eyre Highway has reopened after being closed for 12 days due to a bushfire, allowing travellers and road freight to get through to Perth.

The WA department of fire and emergency services opened the road at 7am local time in response to a calming of fire activity in the Dundas fire, which has been “moderated due to cooler temperatures, reduced wind speeds and higher relative humidity.”

The alert read: “the Eyre Highway and the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway have now reopened. Some speed restrictions are in place and it is anticipated a large number of vehicles could be on the roads, so motorists are urged to drive with care and ensure they have adequate fuel, food and water.


The highway has been closed since 30 December. It is the main road into WA from the Eastern States — the only other sealed road is the Victoria Highway, which goes from Darwin to Kununurra at the northern end of the continent — and it’s also the main freight route.

Supermarkets Coles and Woolworths both said in statements yesterday that they were experiencing some stock shortages due to the road closure. Dozens of truck drivers and tourists have been stuck at the Caiguna roadhouse, on the eastern edge of the road closure, for a fortnight.

Toilet paper had to be helicoptered in, and the roadhouse was running low on water, which it generates through desalination.

The Eyre Highway runs from Norseman to Port Augusta. The Coolgardie-Esperance Highway also runs through Norseman, and forms part of the route from Perth to Adelaide.

Morrison is speaking in Canberra on the bushfires, after addressing what he says was a “terrible accident”, that saw a Ukrainian aircraft shot down in Iran.

On the fires, Morrison says conditions remain “severe and extreme”, and he has advised the Australian Defence Force to stand ready to assist.

“What I’ve said in my briefings this morning with the ADF is I’ve given them very clear instructions that they are to stand ready to move and support immediately,” Morrison said.

He reports on the work the ADF has been undertaking, including help with the burying of dead livestock.

“That will be of great relief I think to those farmers and graziers for whom the disposal of their stock and the stock losses is a very difficult issue for them,” Morrison said.

“The other part of the work and effort that is being undertaken by the ADF is in the engineering side of works, clearing roads, working with local authorities to establish contact with isolated communities but that will come under threat again today.

“So, having put the Defence Forces in a position to move quickly in the event of a fire activity today, they will move and ensure that they can provide that support as swiftly as they can, but again working in concert with local state and territory authorities.”

More from that 2GB interview with Morrison, via AAP:

Scott Morrison says any national inquiry into the bushfires needs to be wide-ranging and examine what impact climate change has had on the crisis.

The prime minister is weighing up calling a royal commission into the disaster, which would also look at hazard reduction burns and national coordination.

“I think Australians, because of the scale of this particular disaster, will be looking for something more holistic,” he told 2GB radio on Friday.

“That’s not the focus right now – today there are severe and extreme fire forecasts in Victoria and NSW – but down the track, that’s what premiers and I am sure will discuss.”

But while the prime minister acknowledges there is an appetite to examine the impacts of climate change on the bushfires, he will not consider a stronger commitment to carbon emission reductions.

The federal government has committed at least $2bn towards the recovery effort.

The latest element of its response package was immediate cash payments of $1m for dozens of councils hardest hit by the fires.

A comprehensive mental health plan is expected to be announced in coming days, along with assistance for bushfire-ravaged small businesses.

Updated

From AAP:

The escalating bushfire emergency across Kangaroo Island has cut power to more properties.

SA Power Networks says about 850 are now without electricity following a fire-related outage on the main supply line to the west of the Island overnight on Thursday.

The main supply powerline runs through the firegrounds near Parndana from Kingscote and goes on to supply western parts of the island.

SA Power Networks said its crews were not able to work on Thursday due to fire escalation and would await advice from the Country Fire Service before going onto the fireground on Friday.

“Our focus has been community and crew safety in fast-changing and dangerous bushfire circumstances and today, given the threat to Kingscote, we have moved crews and equipment to Penneshaw to ensure their safety and our ability to mobilise all our resources once the bushfire situation eases,” a spokesman said.

“The additional damage and continuing fire situation will further delay our efforts to restore power to those who can be reconnected.”

Water supplies are also a concern for the island with major damage earlier to a water treatment plant near Penneshaw.

Army personnel and SA Water crews tried to get to the plant on Thursday but were unable to make it.

The army has set up a portable treatment plant but islanders continue to be urged to keep water use to essential needs only.

Updated

Luke Henriques-Gomes has checked in with the people in the Victorian town of Mallacoota.

Christy Brya Bryar is now staying at a friend’s place in Mallacoota. She is keen to stress that although there had been some terrifying moments, “it wasn’t all chaos and panic and armageddon”.

“I could tell when something had come out in the media because I would get this flood of messages from people panicked, from Portugal, or Canada, or the UK,” she says.

She is not downplaying the experience of those who were there. Bryar was on the wharf crouching, face down, sheltering from the embers with a friend, Vanessa, as well as Vanessa’s children and dogs, when the fire front hit.

“The kids were so still,” she says. “Whatever we asked them to do, they just did it straight away.

“We were each under a blanket. I had the two dogs under mine as well. We couldn’t hold them so they were just so brave and just calm.

“There were moments where you think, ‘This might be it’. But we had the kids there, and the dogs, and you knew you just have to keep it together.”

Read Luke’s full feature here.

NSW Police have released some details about the helicopter crash yesterday.

The pilot was conducting aerial waterbombing of fires around Bega and Eden when it crashed into a dam in Boydtown. He’d been refilling a water bucket in the Ben Boyd Reservoir about 4.20pm when the helicopter lost power and “came to rest” in the dam.

The 47-year-old pilot was able to free himself from the aircraft and make his way to shore,” police said.

“He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics for shoulder, back and ankle injuries, before being taken to South East Regional Hospital in a stable condition.”

The dam is closed as a drinking supply and a recovery operation to retrieve the helicopter will be coordinated. Inquiries are continuing.

Scott Morrison says ‘conflation’ of bushfires and climate policy ‘very disappointing’

Over on 2GB, Scott Morrison has just been taken to task for doing “too much on climate change”.

Yes, you heard that right.

Host John Stanley also lambasted Morrison for not building a new coal-fired power plant.

“You’re aware that a lot of the people who are listening to this program, if Alan was doing the program, their view is you’re doing too much on climate change, you’re doing too much in the renewable space. And then you go around the community and you’re told you’re not doing enough, more needs to be done, you need to ramp up the reduction of emissions. Is that a fair characterisation of the debate and the debate within your own party?”

Morrison reckons that’s about right.

“Oh John I think in terms of how you’ve characterised the debate nationally, I think it’s a pretty good summary. But what that means is that the policy we have is a balanced one. It’s one that understands the need to take action here ...

Stanley interjects: “But that’s not going to satisfy ... the people listening here would say you’re doing too much and they would be demanding that you, for instance, move ahead with a coal-fired power station because that’s going to provide energy security for us.”

Sigh.

Morrison goes on to say that the “conflation” of the bushfires and climate policy in the public debate has been “very disappointing”, because no single climate policy caused the fire.

“We continue to consider our policies carefully here, and we understand we don’t want job destroying, economy destroying, economy wrecking targets and goals which won’t change the fact that there are bushfires or anything like that in Australia. The suggestion that there’s any one emissions reduction policy or climate policy that has contributed to any of these fire events is just ridiculous, the conflation of those two things I think has been very disappointing.

Over the last few weeks, John, in particular, there has been a lot of misinformation running around, that’s been very disappointing. People have been looking to make political points in many cases, that’s disappointing.”

Yep. Morrison’s right. There has been a lot of misinformation around. Like, you know, the bots and trolls exaggerating the role of arson to deflect from climate change’s impact. Or the misinformation about greenies stopping hazard reduction work.

Updated

Prime minister Scott Morrison was interviewed on 7.30 last night. It’s worth watching the full exchange, but this particular clip goes to the backlash he’s received, in fire-affected areas and elsewhere, and specifically asks about his apparent misspeak on Kangaroo Island in saying there had been no deaths (there have been two - Dick Lang and his son, Clayton).

Morrison says he was talking about firefighters when he said that (Dick and Clayton were volunteer firefighters).

Here is a clip of the Kangaroo Island exchange.

We’re getting an update from Kangaroo Island where the general message is: firefighters are exhausted and it’s not over yet, although conditions have improved and they’ll be working on reopening roads and restoring power.

Night shift were busy fighting fires and the day shift would have had trouble sleeping. An aircraft crew at Emu Bay also had to be evacuated last night.

“Essentially everybody working on this fire not only had a big day yesterday but they had disrupted rest, and we’ve got to keep going,” says CFS incident controller Ian Tanner.

We can’t afford to stop now, but the weather has eased off.

I’m very confident that the rate of spread will have slowed if not stopped and that any fire activity or smoke that you can see will be just burning in some of those creek lines and things. There is a bit of drizzle out there at the moment. Temperatures are down. Humidities are up. ... It will still move slightly through the bush, through those forested areas, but our fire crews should be able to get in and deal with that. Unlike yesterday. But it is not going to make a run through the paddocks and across the country to Emu Bay under the current conditions.

Last night at fire-threatened Kingscote, residents fled homes and stayed in their cars near the water.

We have a line that’s parallel to the original line, but it is from about Seal Bay up to about Emu Bay, but this time it hasn’t because the conditions were milder, it hasn’t reached the coast on the north like it did on the previous Friday and it stopped back there around the Kingscote airport.

Kangaroo Island resident Jan Boers takes refuge alongside the Kingscote jetty as bushfire conditions worsen in the early hours of 10 January.
Kangaroo Island resident Jan Boers takes refuge alongside the Kingscote jetty as bushfire conditions worsen in the early hours of 10 January. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated

Updated

Fitzsimmons says the big difference today is there has been a sensible and considered response from the community in getting out so there aren’t tens of thousands of people in these towns and there’s been a lot of stocking from communities.

Fitzsimmons: “Our focus today isn’t just about people and community assets, but we know we have a lot of critical assets which go to the viability and livelihoods of communities.”

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says she is proud of the preparedness of authorities in the state but there is no doubt that extreme conditions and extreme events have given them a lot for consideration.

Asked about the various inquiries being announced or flagged, Berejiklian says the crisis goes beyond state borders but responses are run by the states and run quite differently, so it’s appropriate for each state to consider what they do.

“But we also have to accept that what the nation is facing goes beyond the borders of one state” and so she appreciates why there would be something at the national level as well.

Updated

NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons is giving a briefing.

Communities everywhere across the south of NSW are under threat, and he’s urged people to check information related to their locality.

The conditions are difficult today.

It’s the hot, dry winds that will prove once again to be the real challenge. We are going to see winds coming through around about 35-50km/h, gusting up to 70-90 an hour, in some areas out of the north-west and we are going to see that through most of the day. Later in the afternoon, anywhere from mid-afternoon, late afternoon, somewhere round about 4pm, we’ll see the change moving in.

The southerly change will be vigorous and gusty, he said.

Inland it will be largely from the south-west, and near the coast it will be more from the souther or south-easter.

“Those winds will penetrate through and be dominating those firegrounds for many hours,” he says.

Updated

Here are the predicted fire movements for NSW today. It obviously stops at the Victorian border despite the fire clearly spreading across both states. I’ll see if Victorian authorities produce similar maps.

Hello and welcome to today’s coverage of the continuing bushfire crisis in Australia.

Firefighters and residents have had a few days reprieve this week, with cooler conditions and even a bit of rain – although that can also hamper containment work.

Unfortunately those conditions end today.

Temperatures in the south of New South Wales and in Victoria are predicted to reach the low to mid 40s, with a late cool change bringing winds with peak gusts of up to 90km/h and possible dry lightning.

“These conditions will make fire behaviour erratic and dangerous,” the RFS said.

Authorities have warned people in areas under particular threat that they should leave.

“If it is safe to get out, then you must get out. That is the only way to guarantee your safety,” Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews said on Thursday.

“I know that’s a very binary message. It’s blunt. It’s not meant to impress anyone. It’s meant to be the cold facts.”

An emergency warning is in place in Western Australia, for a bushfire threatening lives and homes across a string of suburbs in Perth’s south. It has burned more than 300ha since it started about midday on Thursday.

The emergency warning applies across an area spanning 20km north to Casuarina.

The ABC is reporting the Kangaroo Island town of Kingscote has been cut off, with residents stranded as South Australian firefighters battle a bushfire. It’s currently designated a watch and act, with roads closed and some residents reportedly sleeping at the water’s edge and on the town oval.

Two other emergency warnings remained in place early on Friday, one for the area around the Kangaroo Island south coast town of Vivonne Bay and one for the central districts around Parndana.

Updated

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