Overview
- Emergency warnings triggered evacuations across dozens of towns, with the highest danger rating activated in four regions for the first time since the 2019–20 fires.
- Police say a man, a woman and a child are missing in Longwood East after crews later found their home destroyed.
- Firefighters report heavy losses in Ruffy, where at least 20 houses and a community hub burned, and one firefighter was hospitalized with burns.
- One major blaze near Longwood has scorched about 28,000 hectares, with roughly 40 fires burning statewide and two principal threats near Longwood and Walwa.
- Forecasters expect temperatures above 40°C and gusts near 100 km/h, and a dangerous pyrocumulonimbus cloud formed over the Walwa fire.