{"id":501926,"date":"2026-01-08T18:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/501926\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T18:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:36:11","slug":"pack-whats-precious-victorians-bracing-for-catastrophic-fire-danger-hunker-down-with-caravans-kelpies-and-litres-of-water-victoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/501926\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Pack what\u2019s precious\u2019: Victorians bracing for catastrophic fire danger hunker down with caravans, kelpies and litres of water | Victoria"},"content":{"rendered":"

When 82-year-old Jan Sporry and her husband had to pack up and leave their home in regional Victoria<\/a> \u2013 possibly for the last time \u2013 they struggled to choose what to take with them.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the couple and their kelpie Ruby moved to a disaster relief centre in Seymour as firefighters fought blazes in the worst heatwave<\/a> since the 2019-20 black summer bushfire season and the state braced for a day of catastrophic fire danger on Friday.<\/p>\n

Sporry said she didn\u2019t know if the \u201cbeautiful\u201d home they\u2019ve lived in since 1986 would \u201cbe there when we get back\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to pack up what was precious,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019ve got photos and documents, some of my needlework that is framed, but what do you take when you have a house full of stuff you want to keep? \u2026 We just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longwood fires deputy incident controller, Greg Murphy (far right), speaks at a community meeting at the Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre. Photograph: Steve Womersley\/The GuardianSeymour fire brigade captain Kylie Comte was on hand to answer questions. Photograph: Steve Womersley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

In the relief centre set up at the Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre, Sporry was among the community members gathered for a town hall meeting on Thursday night. Several people with caravans were settling in for the night, evacuees from the fire area.<\/p>\n

Maree, a Seymour local for eight years, said she and her two boys \u2013 who both live with disabilities \u2013 were ready to evacuate. Their packs with water, radios and ID were all set.<\/p>\n

Members of the Kelvin View fire brigade rest in Longwood on Thursday, having been on the ground since 7am. From left: Andrew Mackrell, Dean Burton, Captain Anthony Delahey and Chris Chittick. Photograph: Steve Womersley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cI was here for the black summer fires, so that\u2019s why I\u2019ve come to the meeting,\u201d she said. \u201cI know what happened then, so I would rather be 100% sure what\u2019s going on now, rather than wait for the last minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is ready to go if we need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

The fires burning at Longwood<\/a> were threatening to spread further on Thursday, the Country Fire Authority said, with residents of some nearby towns advised it was too late to leave<\/a> and to shelter indoors.<\/p>\n

The chief officer of the CFA, Jason Heffernan, warned conditions on Friday would be \u201cdire\u201d, including potential wind gusts of up to 100km\/h.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be in the mid to upper end of the [40C] spectrum, particularly in the northern part of the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Strathbogie resident Erika Smyth captured this image from the fire watchtower on Mt Wombat in the Strathbogie ranges. Photograph: Erika Smyth<\/p>\n

\u201c[Friday] is a very, very dire bushfire day in the state of Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the supermarket in Seymour there were noticeable gaps on the shelves: bottles of water are almost gone, batteries all bought up.<\/p>\n

As the staff moved to restock on Thursday evening, residents were filling trolleys with supplies. One man\u2019s was piled with two-minute noodles \u2013 packets upon packets. He nodded at the cashier on his way out, ready to hunker down.<\/p>\n

In the car park, June and her kids, aged 14 and 10, were loading litres and litres of water into the back of her small car.<\/p>\n

\"FootageFootage shows smoke billowing from Victoria bushfire outbreak near Euroa – video<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s scary,\u201d she said as she pointed to the sky. In the distance, white clouds merged with grey smoke from the bushfire burning in nearby Longwood on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is worried. It is not far from us, so we are just preparing. Anything could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fires burning at Longwood threaten to spread further on Friday. Photograph: Steve Womersley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

For the communities near Kinglake and Marysville, the shadow of 2019-20 bushfire season hangs in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend, she had her bag packed in 2019, checked it this week, and it is still all there,\u201d June said. \u201cEverything in it, unopened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state MP for Eildon, Cindy McLeish, whose catchment includes areas with watch and act warnings in place, says the community is anxious.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very anxious and fearful,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

McLeish was sure some would \u201cbe stubborn\u201d and stay to defend their homes, adding her \u201cdad would have been one of them\u201d, but that most of the community was watching and preparing to leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are vigilant,\u201d McLeish said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t going to be controlled overnight, and things could get worse tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

A total fire ban was in place for all of Victoria for Friday, with many districts given a \u201ccatastrophic\u201d fire danger rating.<\/p>\n

Heffernan said fires had the potential to spread rapidly on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not wait for a warning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As June was getting into her car on Thursday night, she looked up at the sky, her hands clasped together.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we just pray for rain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A few hours later, her prayers were briefly answered as a light shower fell over Seymour. But it was not nearly enough to ward off the risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When 82-year-old Jan Sporry and her husband had to pack up and leave their home in regional Victoria…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":501927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-501926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115860930207693550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}