Bush fires threaten rural towns amid heatwave in Australia

Bush fires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of forest in southeast Australia on Jan 9, firefighters said, as hot winds fanned “hectic” conditions in the tinder-dry countryside.

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Temperatures soared past 40 deg C as a heatwave blanketed the region, creating some of the most dangerous bush-fire weather since the “Black Summer” blazes of 2019 to 2020.

Dozens of rural hamlets in the state of Victoria were urged to evacuate while they still could, while three people, including a child, were missing inside one of the state’s most dangerous fire grounds.

"If you don’t leave now, it could result in your life being lost,” Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch told reporters.

Powerful wind gusts temporarily grounded firefighting aircraft trying to contain about 30 different blazes dotted around the state.

Firefighters fear that at least 20 houses have been burned to the ground in the small town of Ruffy, about a two-hour drive north of state capital Melbourne.

Country Fire Authority chief Jason Heffernan said the fire danger was catastrophic — the most severe rating possible.