Major bushfire in Australia expected to burn for weeks

Sydney, Dec 22 Residents who have evacuated several towns in southeast Australia due to a major bushfire have been told they could be away from home for several weeks as the fire continues to grow.

Thousands of people in six towns in and around the Grampians National Park, approximately 230 kilometres west of Melbourne in the southeastern state of Victoria, were ordered to evacuate on Friday and Saturday as a bushfire in the park threatened homes and lives, reports Xinhua news agency.

The fire, which was sparked by lightning on Monday, tripled in size between Friday and Saturday as a result of high temperatures and strong winds.

As of Sunday morning, it had burned more than 34,000 hectares of land. Over 300 firefighters and water bombing aircraft were working to slow its spread.

Residents were told at meetings on Saturday that authorities expect the fire to continue burning for weeks.

Garry Cook, deputy chief officer from the Country Fire Authority, said that favourable conditions on Saturday night had allowed firefighters to extend control lines along the fire's northern edge.

However, he said strong winds forecast for Sunday would again put containment efforts under pressure.

"It's a big fire, there's a lot of unburnt fuel in the Grampians still, so it's quite a challenge for the days ahead," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius are forecast across Victoria from Christmas Day next Wednesday through to next Friday, posing a major fire threat.

In its seasonal bushfire outlook released in November, the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services identified Victoria's southwest, including the Grampians National Park, as one of the regions facing an increased summer bushfire risk.

It said at the time that the dry winter and spring period across southern Australia meant the landscape was primed for bushfires.

Cook said on Sunday that the area was very dry and that communities would likely have to deal with the threat of fires for the remainder of the summer.