Temperatures nudged 50 degrees in north-western parts of the state, while Melbourne sizzled to a top of 45.6 degrees in the suburbs.
The small towns of Hopetoun and Walpeup reached 48.9 degrees, eclipsing their own heat records of 48.8 degrees set during the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires.
More than 100,000 without power
Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the state had broken a 17-year record for electricity demand but the independent market operator said it still had enough power reserves to meet its needs.
However, there were about 106,000 homes and business without power at 8.30pm.
“These have been caused by a combination of bushfires burning out electricity assets, trees falling on poles and wires and heat-related equipment failure,” the minister said.
“Additional crews are in place to respond to these outages and will restore power as soon as possible.”
About 11pm, AusNet reported about 45,000 customers impacted from Melbourne’s east to the NSW border and Powercor showed 11,000 outages in inner-east Melbourne and near Bendigo, Geelong, Shepparton and the Otways.
Powercor said the network had suffered a range of different faults including weather, a vehicle collision and trees falling on lines.
“The Otway fire has now impacted one of the main powerlines supplying the region, affecting power supply to 2839 customers in Carlisle River, Lavers Hill, Johanna, Cape Otway, Beech Forest and Gellibrand,” the distributor said.
“We are working with emergency services tonight to potentially access the line to assess the damage.
“Given the dangerous conditions associated with this active fire, we are unable to provide an estimated restoration time to customers at this stage and advise that it may be days until we can safely begin repairs.
“We are continuing to monitor the second powerline and have deployed a generator to support supply in Apollo Bay if required.”
United Energy blamed extreme heat and record demand on the power network for its 4000 or so outages in the city’s south-east and along the Mornington Peninsula, as did Jemena for the 11,000 outages stretching from the inner suburbs out towards Sunbury.
Carlisle River blaze remains within containment lines
Firefighters managed to keep the Carlisle River blaze, which began on January 10, within its containment lines as temperatures climbed.
“This fire has not escaped or made any large runs and that’s what we were really fearful of today based on what had happened only about three or four days ago,” Colac deputy incident controller Alistair Drayton said.
“There’s been some incredibly active fire around the fire edge … [but] together with aircraft and large air tankers, they’ve all combined and kept that fire in check.”
The blaze has burned through more than 10,500 hectares and has posed a major challenge to firefighters.
It has also doubled in size since breaking containment on Saturday.
More than 1100 properties in dozens of towns in the Otways were evacuated yesterday ahead of today’s peak heatwave conditions.
Otways crews, communities brace for wind change
Authorities and crews were bracing for a south-westerly wind change, which swept the south-west of the state about 5pm.
“That fire will run, it will develop a plume and will pick up really significant energy and we will see erratic and extreme fire behaviour,” Fire Forest Management Victoria chief fire officer Chris Hardman warned.
About the same time, an emergency “take shelter” warning was issued for Gellibrand, Carlisle River and surrounds, five hours after an evacuation warning was triggered for the same area.
Authorities expected the wind change to bring gusts up to 70km/h, drastically worsening conditions and swinging the fire in a north-easterly direction back towards Gellibrand and Karwarren.
Three homes were believed to have been destroyed in the Carlisle River bushfire.
Hardman said it remained unclear if they were family or holiday homes.
“We haven’t done a full impact assessment,” Hardman said.
Victoria’s total fire ban has been extended until tomorrow for the Wimmera and north-east districts, including the towns of Horsham, Edenhope, St Arnaud, Stawell, Halls Gap, Wangaratta, Bright, Wodonga and Falls Creek.
This is an extension of today’s total fire ban, which is now in place for the entire state of Victoria.
New fire sparks fresh emergency warnings
A new grassfire moved quickly today through communities surrounding Larralea, south of Lismore in Victoria’s south-west.
Communities in Kariah, Larralea, Leslie Manor, Lismore and Taarak were urged to take shelter about 3pm after the grassfire became uncontrolled at Camperdown-Lismore Road.
“You are in danger, act now to protect yourself,” the Country Fire Authority said.
“It is now too dangerous to leave.
“Do not get in the car and drive. It is safer to stay where you are.”
The blaze was travelling in a north-easterly direction from Ettrick Estate Road towards Lower Darlington Road after a south-westerly wind change.
Communities north of the initial impact zone, including in Foxhow, Gnarpurt and Gnarkeet were urged to take shelter about 6pm.
Heat stress scale maxes out at the Australian Open
The heat stress scale at the Australian Open ticked over to five, the highest rating, just before 2pm, inching the grand slam towards a shutdown mode.
The roofs at Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court were closed and all matches on outdoor courts were suspended as the mercury climbed to 40 degrees in Melbourne.
Ticketholders on the ground were urged to seek shade and to drink plenty of water.
Tennis Australia introduced the heat stress scale in 2019, measuring air temperature, humidity, radiant heat and wind speed.
Temperatures across the state will gradually fall as the cool change passes from the south-west.
It should reach Melbourne about 9pm and hang around tomorrow, where the city is set for a top of 24 degrees.
Temperatures in northern Victoria are expected to remain in the mid 40s until Sunday.
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