Overview
- The Carlisle River fire has burned about 9,400 hectares after breaching containment lines and came within roughly 1 kilometre of Gellibrand over the weekend.
- More than 1,000 homes have been urged or ordered to evacuate, with police and SES door‑knocking and relief centres opened in Colac.
- At least one home has been confirmed lost, and impact assessment teams are checking for further damage on the fire’s eastern edge.
- A statewide Total Fire Ban is in place for Tuesday with forecasts up to 49°C in parts of Victoria, and warnings note potential spread toward coastal towns including Lorne and Aireys Inlet.
- Extra aircraft are operating and interstate and New Zealand crews are on the ground, with Canadian firefighters due later this week, as heavy smoke drives very poor to extremely poor air quality across Geelong and Melbourne.