Tens of thousands of residents in Australia’s southeast were told to evacuate on Wednesday due to an intense heatwave that authorities said could further spread a massive bushfire in Victoria state, which faces its worst conditions in four years.
Extreme fire ratings have been issued for large parts of Victoria with the Wimmera region in the west given a catastrophic ranking, the top warning level. Mildura, a rural city of about 56,000, could touch 45 degree Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), the Bureau of Meteorology said.
A potential fire impact zone that covers several rural towns has been identified as officials urged around 30,000 residents there to leave their homes by Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of firefighters were still battling a massive blaze near the city of Ballarat, 95 km (60 miles) west of Melbourne. The fire, burning since last Thursday, has already destroyed six homes, killed livestock and burnt more than 20,000 hectares (200 square kilometres).
A heat wave is set to sweep in from Australia’s outback interior, moving across Victoria before likely shifting east to the state of New South Wales on Thursday. Total fire bans are in place across several cities, including Melbourne.
