Human remains found amid Australia bush fires, police say

SYDNEY – Human remains were found in Australia’s south-east where bush fires raging for days have razed buildings, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland, police said on Jan 11.

The Australian authorities said on Jan 11 it would take firefighters weeks to get on top of

bush fires in the country’s south-east

that have razed homes, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland.

The blazes have torn through more than 350,000ha of bushland in Victoria state since the middle of the week, destroying more than 130 properties – an area the size of Turkey – including homes, and leaving thousands without power.

The human remains were found by a vehicle near the town of Longwood, some 110km north of the state capital Melbourne, Victoria police said in a statement, adding that the victim was not yet identified.

That fire, one of the largest burning on Jan 11, has already destroyed properties, vineyards and agricultural land.

There were more than 30 fires burning in Victoria on the morning Jan 11, Premier Jacinta Allan said. In neighbouring New South Wales state, several fires close to the Victorian border were burning at emergency level, the highest danger rating, the state’s Rural Fire Service said.

The authorities have said the fires are the worst to hit the south-east since the Black Summer blazes of 2019 to 2020 that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.

Chief fire officer of Forest Fire Management Victoria, Mr Chris Hardman, said it would likely take firefighters weeks to get the upper hand on the blazes. “These fires will not be contained before it gets hot, dry and windy again,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp television.

Ms Allan said on X that a total fire ban was in place for Victoria as thousands of firefighters and more than 70 aircraft battled the flames.

“Bush-fire smoke is impacting air quality in many areas across Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne,” she added.

One of the largest fires, near the town of Longwood, about 112km north of Melbourne, has burned 130,000ha of bushland, destroying 30 structures, vineyards and agricultural land.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the federal government would offer emergency funding to bushfire-hit residents as well as to farmers, who had the “extraordinary cost of undertaking immediate and emergency livestock fodder distribution”.

“It’s estimated that thousands of head of cattle are likely to have been impacted,” Mr Albanese said in televised remarks.

“My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities at this very difficult time,” he said in televised remarks on Jan 10. REUTERS