Thousands ordered to flee as bushfire burns in Australia
More than two thousand people have been ordered to evacuate from towns in the west of Australia’s Victoria state due to a bushfire burning out of control today. The state emergency service urged residents in the towns of Raglan and Beaufort, home to around two thousand people, and those in surrounding areas to leave while it was still safe and head east to the nearby regional hub of Ballarat, 95km west of Melbourne. Roughly 50sq km is ablaze northwest of Ballarat. A similar area is also burning out of control further to the west. We expect the fire size to rapidly grow over the next hour or two, residents in the area need to put their bushfire survival plan into action now, Jason Hefferman, chief officer of the Country Fire Authority told ABC News. Large swathes of the state are on high alert for fires and the Bureau of Meteorology issued extreme fire danger warnings today for several districts due to hot, dry winds and the potential for thunderstorms. Temperatures were above 40°Celsius in the northwest of the state at 3pm local time.
