SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian authorities said on Sunday it will take weeks for firefighters to put out bushfires in the country’s southeast that have leveled thousands of homes, knocked out power and burned swaths of bushland.
Fires have burned through more than 300,000 hectares (741,316 acres) of bushland in Victoria since mid-week, destroying more than 130 properties including homes and leaving thousands without power.
More than 30 fires broke out in Victoria on Sunday morning, Premier Jacinta Allan said. In neighboring New South Wales, several fires near the border with Victoria are under a state of emergency, the highest danger level, the state’s Rural Fire Service said.
Authorities said they were the worst fires to hit the southeast since the “Black Summer” fires of 2019-2020, which devastated an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.
Chris Hardman, chief fire officer at the Victorian Bushfire Management Centre, said it could take weeks for firefighters to gain the upper hand on the blaze.
“These fires are not going to be contained until the weather gets hot, dry and windy again,” Hardman told ABC television.
Allen said on social media platform
“Bushfire smoke is affecting air quality in many parts of Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne,” she added.
One of the largest fires, near the town of Longwood, about 112 kilometers (70 miles) north of Melbourne, burned through 130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) of bushland and destroyed 30 buildings, vineyards and farmland.
“My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities at this very difficult time,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a televised address on Saturday.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Andrea Ricci)