Australia news live: out-of-control Victorian bushfire threatens towns as intense heatwave moves east

Extreme fire weather expected to fuel blazes and pose threat to communities near Great Ocean Road. Follow today’s news live

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Still not too late to leave areas near dangerous Victoria fire, but conditions will change later today

Jason Heffernan, the chief officer of Victoria’s Country Fire Authority, is speaking about the fire threat to the state today. He told ABC News:

It is going to be a challenging day for not only firefighters, but for Victorians generally. It will be potentially record-breaking heat across the state.

We do expect that fire will run today under the conditions, those hot northerly winds, but it’s the change that’s going to come through about 5pm with some really punchy winds that is likely to do most of the damage and drive that fire further into the Otways in a north-easterly direction, affecting nearly all the communities which we have highlighted today.

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Source: www.theguardian.com

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