Extreme fire ratings cover half of Victoria

Lexton is a community that was urged to leave by midday, reporter Lexie Joona-Wick is discussing the conditions.

Transcript

00:00 30,000 Victorians have been urged to evacuate today as authorities continue to warn this

00:07 could be the worst day of bushfire risk the state have seen in around four years.

00:13 Now where I am in the town of Lexton in Western Victoria, they only have a population of around

00:19 230 people.

00:21 Local CFA members have told me around half the town has evacuated.

00:26 Now most of those residents that have left are elderly and as you can see around me,

00:31 most of the activity right now is emergency services that are really preparing for incredibly

00:37 challenging conditions this afternoon.

00:40 Around six or seven o'clock is when we're expecting to see the winds shift and that

00:43 could bring dry lightning and some really, really increasingly challenging conditions

00:48 for firefighters that are battling that Bayon Deen bushfire.

00:52 Now that's been still burning out of control.

00:56 It started last Thursday and last time we checked, it had stretched to around 170 kilometres

01:03 long in perimeter.

01:05 About 600 firefighters are out there today trying to get the upper hand of that blaze.

01:11 Now as for the conditions right now, it is quite mild.

01:14 A heavy blanket of cloud we heard earlier is helping suppress that bushfire.

01:19 We've even seen a light sprinkling of rain.

01:21 The road just here is slightly wet but it is barely enough to wet the road and as you

01:26 can imagine, barely enough to help control that bushfire.

01:30 Now in terms of roadblocks that are in place, over my shoulder you can see police at the

01:35 scene.

01:36 Now they're helping control traffic in and out of those towns that have been urged to

01:40 evacuate.

01:41 Residents are the only people that are being allowed in and out and it's really to, I guess,

01:46 prepare for this increasingly challenging bushfire situation that is expected to worsen

01:53 this afternoon.

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