Bushfire in Australia's Melbourne triggers evacuation warning

Sydney, Dec 18 (IANS) Residents and campers in a national park west of Melbourne, the capital city of Australia's state of Victoria, have been ordered to evacuate as a bushfire threatens property.

Victorian authorities on Wednesday afternoon issued an emergency alert for the small towns of Victoria Valley and Mirranatwa approximately 240 km west of Melbourne in the Grampians National Park.

The alert issued at about 4 pm local time said that a bushfire that has been burning since Monday is not yet under control and has now reached properties in Mirranatwa.

Residents and campers in the area have been urged to evacuate south to the town of Dunkeld where a relief center has been established.

"Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous," the alert said.

The fire ignited on Monday as temperatures across Victoria exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, the state's hottest December day since 2019, Xinhua news agency reported.

As of Wednesday, it had burnt 564 hectares of bushland in the national park's mountainous southern end.

VicEmergency incident controller Mark Gunning told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the fire was burning in inaccessible areas, making controlling it a challenge for fire crews.

He said authorities expect to be fighting the fire for several weeks.

Emergency services, earlier on Monday evening urged residents of the small towns of Creswick and Dean, approximately 100 km west of Melbourne, to immediately evacuate the area due to the threat posed by an out-of-control bushfire.

"Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous. Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay," the alert said.

Nearly 60 vehicles and 250 firefighters from the Country Fire Authority in the state of Victoria were deployed to the fire.

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