The number of Victorian homes destroyed by ”ferocious” fires in the past week could exceed 50, police say.
Chief Commissioner Ken Lay confirmed the loss of 34 houses on Tuesday, but forecast that tally could rise in the coming days.
”We have advised that another 20 houses may be destroyed, otherwise unconfirmed until we get people into the fire scene,” he said
At the Mickleham and Kilmore fire, hundreds of homes are believed to have been affected and at least 12 have burnt down.
Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the blaze that started at the weekend had been difficult to control. It burnt across vast plains of grassland where it threatened urban housing estates, and over hills as it spread north and through bushland.
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PICTURE GALLERY: Mickleham fires
After winds picked up on Monday afternoon the fire’s reach had grown to 23,000-plus hectares.
At the Kilmore CFA station, fire division commander Greg Murphy said many houses in the fire’s path still remained upright despite some damage. ”And with a little bit of work will be habitable,” he said.
But authorities have warned that for at least the next six weeks the blaze could still pose problems.
”The fires are burning into very very difficult terrain for us to work in. The hills, the valleys, the rocky areas will make it extremely difficult to extinguish completely. We will need to remain vigilant for the next six to seven weeks,” Mr Murphy said.
On Tuesday afternoon 18 fires spanning 180,000 hectares were still burning across Victoria, including major fires in the Latrobe Valley and East Gippsland. Homes lost include seven in Kilmore, four in Mickleham, three in Warrandyte, three in Martins Creek, two in Goongerah, two in Wunghnu, two in Glenaladale and one each in Beveridge, Yarram and Walpa.
As smoke wafted across the state, Mr Lapsley said some people were calling triple zero wrongly believing there was a fire nearby.
”There’s smoke now spread over a broad area extending into central Victoria and also back in the metropolitan area and people need to be mindful of that.”
Police said up to 16 of the recent fires had been deliberately lit, with nine confirmed as arson. Two boys, aged 11 and nine, have been spoken to by police or cautioned over Sunday’s Long Gully fire in Bendigo.
Premier Denis Napthine said the authorities needed to do more research on why people deliberately lit fires after saying the state had a ”serious issue with arsonists”. Knowing some people were lighting fires during such dangerous and extreme conditions was ”an absolutely outrageous and sick-to-the-stomach feeling”, he said.
