Firefighter burnt in Victorian blazes

(AAP) A volunteer firefighter battling a blaze in Victoria's west has suffered serious burns.

A Rural Ambulance Victoria spokesman said the Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer
was fighting a fire in the Coleraine region when he suffered burns to 50 per cent of
his body.
He said the man, aged in his 40s, was taken to the Hamilton Hospital in a serious
condition for assessment and treatment at about 2.30pm (AEDT).
The news comes as authorities confirmed a number of homes have been destroyed by the
bushfires in Victoria.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Sustainability and the Environment (DSE) said
there had been houses destroyed around Horsham, in the state's west.
"They have lost the Horsham Golf Club, three houses and several sheds," she said.
"The Dimboola Brigade Unit has been destroyed. The firefighters from that brigade
are fine though and back on the fire line."
A CFA spokeswoman earlier said it was believed homes were also lost near
Labertouche, near a 165-hectare fire in the Bunyip State Park east of Melbourne.
As of 3.30pm (AEDT) the fire at Horsham was thought to be about 1,800 hectares in
size, while another at Kilmore was 1,400 hectares.
It is believed the fire near Kilmore, in Victoria's north, had already claimed some
houses in the township of Wandong where other properties were under extreme threat.
"Wandong, as a result of the Kilmore fire, has been heavily impacted by fire," said
Adele Buhagiar from the CFA.
"We think there are houses destroyed in Wandong and at Labertouche. We don't have
confirmed numbers yet.
Paul Bird from the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO), which
regulates power supplies, said power flowing through some transmission lines near
Bunyip had been reduced as the fire threatened.
"It is between South Morang and the Hazelwood power station. That fire is currently
burning close to those, or alongside those northern two 500kv transmission lines,"
Mr Bird said.
Elderly residents in nursing homes near the Bunyip State Park fires have been
evacuated as the nearby blazes intensify.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said 47 residents from a Bunyip nursing home and the
same number from a Neerim South residence were being moved and were expected to be
taken to the Koo-Wee-Rup hospital.
"They're not in immediate danger I am assured, but they are being evacuated out so
that they don't get to that situation," he said.
Another warning was also issued to residents near the towns of Camperdown and
Danedite in Victoria's west where a fire crossed the Princes Highway and was heading
east toward Pomborneit North.
Meanwhile, the number of towns threatened by the bushfires continues to grow.
By 4pm (AEDT) the CFA had issued warning to dozens of towns throughout the state to
beware of the threat of fire.
The fire outbreaks were associated with record temperatures across parts of Victoria.
Melbourne has experienced its hottest-ever recorded temperature, 46.4C at 3.04pm,
while it reached 47.9C at Laverton, on the city's western outskirts.
The highest recorded temperature the Victoria has ever experienced was on January 7,
1906, when the mercury hit 50.7C in Mildura.