Victorian Bushfire Crisis

It was around 12 O'clock on Saturday the 7th when it all started. My Nanny rang us up to tell us to tune into 3AW and what we heard would devastate the entire country of Australia.

Yesterday was the hottest day in on record for Victoria, Australia in 150 years, topping the scales with 46.4C (114F); with hot winds it was the perfect weather for a bushfire.

I was in South Morang when i first saw evidence of the fires. I was in my cousins pool and we saw black smoke in the sky and when the wind changed direction; we could smell it. then we saw Elvis (the CFA Helicopter) flying over the house, it was then when we realised how close the fires were. I counted 20 firetrucks drove past the house.

Australia has been in a drought for 10 years now, with Victoria being of 3A water restrictions and no rain in weeks, it was evident that this was going to be what we'd feared; one of the worst bushfire's on record. In the 1983 Black Friday bushfire, 46 people had died, yesterday we were told the death toll was 26 and that it was estimated to be 40+, yet not very long ago it was updated to 65 confirmed deaths and 12 people in in intensive care.

Kinglake and Marysville have both been badly hit, with 90% of the towns destroyed when the fires ripped through them, 30 houses in Kinglake were destroyed yesterday, then overnight and today it was totaled to over 100 homes lost. Also, the train line from Mooroolbark to Ringwood has also been destroyed and the fires near Traralgon were lit by an arsonist.

At the moment, the main areas hit and under distress are Beachworth, Church Hill, Bunyip and the Kinglake zones. Areas surrounding Murrindindi are on high alert and power has been lost to 140 houses.

Almost all over the state is alight, with a few lucky towns and suburbs not hit, this is developing to be the worst bushfire in Australian history.