00:00Let's get more on the Harcourt fire in Victoria now, that's burning between Bendigo and Castlemaine.
00:07Reporter Oliver Gordon is in Harcourt. Oliver, what's the situation where you are?
00:13Hi Jeremy, so you can see right behind me that there is massive amounts of smoke billowing from the top of a hill.
00:21I'm here just near the outskirts of Harcourt and we have today had the devastating news that dozens of buildings in this central Victorian town have been destroyed.
00:35You can see behind me the fire fighting efforts continue.
00:38We've had choppers coming in trying to put this blaze behind me away.
00:43And then closer into Harcourt, we've had fire crews on the ground tending to little spot fires.
00:50We've just been down there a little closer and there are large swathes of bushland that are completely blackened.
00:57Tree stumps that are smoking.
01:00We haven't been able to see any active flames yet, but certainly everything that we're seeing is suggesting that this blaze is still alight
01:09and that fire crews are doing everything they can to put it out.
01:13We've also had some reports from within Harcourt.
01:16I haven't actually been there yet today Jeremy, but we are getting reports of cars that are alight,
01:23some very serious damage, such serious damage that it's actually hard to identify which houses have been lost
01:31because letterboxes, those identification, those identifying aspects of a home have been destroyed.
01:38So we know that there are many people from the communities around here that have evacuated
01:45and they're in an extremely nervous wait as they, you know, get pieces, bits and pieces of information from people who have been able to be in.
01:54But certainly most people who have been evacuated are still in the dark.
01:58Oliver, I just want to mention to our viewers the reason you're wearing this fire suit, which some people get confused by.
02:04It means you've done your CFA fire training, right?
02:06And it means you're authorised by the CFA to enter the fire zone.
02:10Tell me where you are in relation to this fire, because part of the mission here for us is to keep reporters like you safe
02:16and away from the fire ground. So how is it looking where you are right now and how far away are you from the fire front?
02:24So we would be about six or seven k's away from the township of Harcourt.
02:31And you can see just behind me this smoky front.
02:35I would say that that's around two kilometres or three kilometres.
02:39There are road closures and we are behind those road closures just to keep ourselves safe.
02:45And we want to be working alongside the CFA and authorities on this front.
02:50But really, Jeremy, we can see that this is still a very active fire front and we're just doing all we can to keep safe.
02:59And we've seen that the CFA volunteers and the fire crews battling these blazes.
03:06We've got up close and personal to some of them.
03:08We saw some of them stopping to have some lunch.
03:11They had some water and moved on pretty quickly because there are so many little spot fires that they need to put out
03:18before they can actually bring people into the township.
03:22But there are a lot of people, and I'm in contact with some of them who have been evacuated,
03:28who are really, really keen to get some more information about the status of their homes.
03:34Yeah, tell us about these people you've come across, the locals there, because a lot of them are involved in trying to evacuate their properties and their families,
03:41but also trying to defend their communities against these fires, involved directly in firefighting efforts.
03:47How are they faring?
03:49Look, I've spoken to a number of people who are stationed actually outside these towns.
03:58So I've spoken to people in Castlemaine, in Kyneton, and in Bendigo, and really just spoken about the choices that they had to make,
04:08what they've grabbed before leaving, kind of boring things like insurance.
04:15Really, the message that I'm getting from these people, I haven't spoken to anyone who's been actively involved in fighting the fire,
04:24anyone who stayed, and it's actually too early to tell if anyone has tried to remain at their home and fight the fire.
04:34But certainly the people I've spoken to who are in those three towns around this area, just extraordinarily nervous,
04:42and starting to get to that point of a little bit of frustration, just because this is such a life-changing event,
04:50and they just don't know if they've lost their home.
04:54So there's a touch of frustration from these residents, but certainly they're taking their hat off to the authorities,
05:01who have done a pretty good job so far of keeping everyone safe and basically reducing the loss of life.
05:08Indeed, the flow of information can be quite difficult given the circumstances.
05:12What do we know about when people might get access back into the impacted area to inspect their properties and see what's left?
05:19I've just been chatting to someone in one of these evacuation areas, and I said,
05:26have they told you anything around when you'll be able to get back in?
05:29And they indicated to me that they don't think they'll be back in by the end of the day.
05:34They don't have that information in black and white, though.
05:39So it's really very much a moving situation.
05:42But certainly any residents who may be watching this concerned,
05:48another resident has told me that it could be that they will have to wait until tomorrow until they can get in or even longer.
05:56That could be incorrect. Hopefully people can get in sooner.
05:59But obviously protecting life is the most important thing at this point.
06:03And it's a dynamic situation.
06:04Oliver Gordon, thank you so much.
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