SYDNEY – A bush fire in the Australian state of Victoria raged out of control on Feb 24, with the authorities issuing a fresh evacuation alert at the highest danger rating for hundreds of residents in the state’s west.

The emergency warning followed the downgrading on Feb 24 of another bush fire, sparked earlier in the week, that has killed livestock, destroyed properties and forced more than 2,000 people to leave western towns and head to the city of Ballarat, 95km west of the state capital Melbourne.

The new blaze was threatening the rural town of Amphitheatre, population 223.

“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous,” VicEmergency said on its website, adding that the fire was “not yet under control”.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Feb 24 that three homes and several outbuildings had been destroyed this week in Victoria’s bush fire emergency.

Around 1,000 firefighters supported by more than 50 aircraft have battled the fires since they started.

Australia is currently in the grips of an El Nino weather pattern, which is typically associated with extreme phenomena such as wildfires, cyclones and droughts.

The last two bush fire seasons in Australia have been subdued compared with the 2019 to 2020 “Black Summer” when bush fires destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people and three billion animals. REUTERS