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, the police said on Jan 11.

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

bush fires in the country’s

south-east

.

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

The human remains were found next to 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 of 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.

Mr Chris Hardman, chief fire officer of Forest Fire Management Victoria, 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 social media platform 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 Longwood town, has burned 130,000ha of bushland, destroying 30 structures, vineyards and agricultural land.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the federal government would offer emergency funding to bush fire-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