One dead and 300 buildings destroyed in Australian bushfires

One person has died and 300 homes and buildings have been destroyed in bushfires that have ravaged southeastern Australia.

Fires have been burning in several locations across the country for days, mostly in the state of Victoria, but also in New South Wales, burning land almost twice the size of Greater London.

A state of emergency has been declared in Victoria as thousands of firefighters and more than 70 aircraft battle the blaze. Residents in more than a dozen communities were advised to leave their homes.

Authorities fear the fires, fueled by extremely hot, dry and windy conditions, could burn for weeks.

The Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan, said there were 30 active fires burning across the state, ten of which were of particular concern.

He said 350,000 hectares were burning across the state as of 08:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday).

“We can see fires going on for hours across the state and that’s why we haven’t gone through the worst of it by a long way,” he told Australian media.

“There are fires going on right now that are threatening homes and property.”

The human remains were found in the village of Gobur, near the town of Longwood, about 110km (70 sq miles) north of the state capital Melbourne, police said. The victim has not been identified.

Allan praised the emergency workers who worked to retrieve the body. “It’s hard and tough work, and it needs a heavy payoff.”

“The Gobur community is grieving,” Allan said.

Bushfire smoke has affected air quality in many areas of Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne.

Authorities say the fires are the worst to hit south-east Australia since the 2019-2020 outbreaks that ravaged an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.

One of the hardest hit areas was the small town of Harcourt in Victoria’s central highlands, where firefighter Tyrone Rice lost his home in the fire. He was out fighting one of the bushfires when he learned that his own house was on fire.

He told Australian media it was “like a kick in the guts, but I’m not the first person to go through this, and I won’t be the last”.

The destruction in Harcourt was “gut-wrenching”, local fire captain Andrew Wilson said.

A reporter for Australia’s 9 News, Jack Ward, told the BBC World Service that he visited the damage in several towns in Western Australia. What he saw was “catastrophic”, he said, and in many places, “all that remains of these houses is a tin roof lying on the ground”.