Parts of Australia are facing catastrophic fires on Friday, with a heatwave expected to hit much of the country.
With the exception of Queensland, every state and territory in Australia has declared severe to extreme heatwaves, with high temperatures expected to last for several days.
Victoria has declared a total fire ban on Friday, with the fire danger level set at the highest level of “catastrophic”. About 450 schools and childcare centers will close.
A heatwave and increased fire danger in parts of the country could create the most “severe” conditions since the devastating Black Summer bushfires, a meteorologist has told the BBC.
Firefighters battled multiple fires in Victoria and New South Wales states on Thursday, and more than a dozen water-carrying planes were sent to extinguish a blaze near the city of Wodonga, the ABC reported.
Melbourne experienced its hottest day in six years on Wednesday, with maximum temperatures reaching 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.6 degrees Fahrenheit), while some coastal towns in Western Australia hit 49 degrees Celsius.
In New South Wales, the heatwave is expected to peak on Saturday, with temperatures reaching 42C in Sydney, while temperatures in South Australia and Western Australia will exceed 40C in the coming days.
The Met Office’s Angus Hines told the BBC that Friday would be the “real peak of the current heat wave”.
“It will be a very hot day for almost all of South Australia, Victoria, much of New South Wales and parts of Tasmania”.
He said Wednesday marked the first severe heatwave in Melbourne and Adelaide, home to millions of people, and fire conditions would worsen on Friday.
“First of all, winds are going to pick up in Victoria tomorrow,” Hines said, adding that combined with the possibility of rainless thunderstorms and dry lightning strikes, the fire danger in northern Victoria would reach catastrophic levels.
“This looks to be the most significant multi-day event in outback southeastern Australia since 2019-20,” Hines said.
The period six years ago saw Australia’s worst fire season on record, the so-called “black summer”, with dozens of people killed and thousands of hectares burned.
In Victoria state, authorities warned on Thursday that catastrophic fire danger levels meant potential fires could be “unpredictable and uncontrollable”.
“We need the community to play their part alongside our emergency services to protect life and property,” Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wibush said.
“Be prepared now and develop a bushfire survival plan. If you are in an area where catastrophic fire danger is expected, leave early and head to areas with lower fire risk.”
Australia’s fire danger levels are divided into four levels, with catastrophic being the highest level, followed by extreme, high and low.
A heat wave is declared when minimum and maximum temperatures are expected to remain unusually high for more than three days.
