Saturday brought a sliver of relief with cooler weather, after temperatures climbed as high as 46C on Friday afternoon as a heatwave gripped Victoria<\/a>. Winds carried ash and smoke to inner Melbourne suburbs, and an orange sun burned in the grey sky \u2013 but fires continued to rage across the state, with authorities warning they could burn for weeks<\/a>. More than 100 buildings were reported to be destroyed and in excess of 300,000 hectares (74,000 acres) burned.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Although the wind direction had kept Mansfield safe on Saturday, the streets smelled like they were on fire and smoke clouded the air.<\/p>\n Wolstencroft and Byrnes, from Sawmill, were meant to tie the knot at the Kevington Hotel on the banks of the Goulburn River. A two-day celebration with 120 friends and family was planned \u2013 Wolstencroft\u2019s mother and sister had caravanned down from Cairns for it. Along with about 20 other family members they were now stuck camping at the showgrounds while the makeup artist and most of the guests from Melbourne were stuck on the other side of the fire.<\/p>\n So at 6pm on Friday, the would-be newlyweds made the call. One of their family friends had just arrived at the hotel for the wedding, set up camp, cracked a beer and was told they would have to all move out.<\/p>\n \u201cThe wind was just hectic,\u201d Wolstencroft says. \u201cIt was not worth the risk of all our friends and family.\u201d<\/p>\n Firefighting helicopter approaches the Longwood fire. Photograph: Michael Currie\/AAP<\/p>\n Instead of dancing into the night, the pair would spend Saturday turning the flowers into bouquets to take to CFA stations and box up the extra wedding food for relief centres. They were disappointed, they said, but they had friends evacuated from nearby towns who didn\u2019t know if their properties were still standing.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many are way worse [off] than us,\u201d Wolstencroft says. \u201cPeople have lost their houses. Last night, my niece heard someone crying in the toilets here, she had lost everything in Bonnie Doon. We are lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the beer isn\u2019t going to go off,\u201d Byrnes says.<\/p>\n For many areas where the fire has swept through, there is no clear idea yet how bad the damage is \u2013 whose houses have made it and whose haven\u2019t. Over 50 homes were destroyed in Ravenswood and Harcourt<\/a>, and more than 30 buildings burned in Longwood<\/a>. Many who had to evacuate face an anxious wait to see if their homes are still standing when they return.<\/p>\n \u2018A pretty hard day\u2019<\/p>\n At the Mansfield recovery centre, people sleep in their cars overnight or inside on camping mattresses. Many locals from Bonnie Doon had taken shelter there overnight. Several houses have burned down.<\/p>\n Alan, a local, was lucky \u2013 his place is still standing.<\/p>\n \u201cI came here yesterday when the CFA called in at the house,\u201d he says. \u201cI said, \u2018what do you want me to do?\u2019, they said \u2018leave\u2019. And I did.\u201d<\/p>\n He grabbed his car keys, his wallet, a packet of cigarettes, and jumped in the car.<\/p>\n \u201cNo personals, no photographs, no family heirlooms, nothing,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not a sentimental bloke.\u201d<\/p>\n Near Longwood, CFA volunteer Lisa Reynolds was on the phone with one of her good friends. The temperature had dropped, but the wind was still blowing faster than anyone could find comfortable.<\/p>\n Despite the enormous wave of guilt in her stomach, her voice was steady. She told her friend their home didn\u2019t make it. There was nothing left for them to come back to.<\/p>\n Reynolds and her husband had two houses on their property, just up the hill from Longwood \u2013 where the bushfire of greatest concern had started. Her husband stayed to defend \u2013 he managed to save the main house, but they lost the other, their shed and her stepdaughter\u2019s car.<\/p>\n Cars and buildings destroyed in the Longwood fire at Yarck, Victoria. Photograph: Steve Womersley\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cI feel really guilty that our main house is still there,\u201d she says through tears. \u201cAnd my friends who live here permanently, they don\u2019t have theirs.<\/p>\n \u201cSo yeah, not a good day today, a pretty hard day.\u201d<\/p>\n Many locals are finding out they have lost property through the grapevine \u2013 neighbours who stayed or family volunteering on trucks. Some are just getting a text message; the reception is too patchy to get a call through.<\/p>\n Reynolds describes having to tell friends of a devastating scene: houses turned to debris and wildlife lying lifeless, including kangaroos caught by broken power lines and birds that could not escape the smoke.<\/p>\n \u201cOne house just had a whole lot of dead parrots in the driveway,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was just heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Footage](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768089850_751_2960.jpg\")
Footage shows smoke billowing from Victoria bushfire outbreak near Euroa – video<\/p>\n