Australia wildfires: Disaster escalates to ‘entirely new level’ as angry firefighter vents rage at PM

‘Go tell the prime minister to get f*****,’ says firefighter

A change of weather on Sunday brought some respite for fire-ravaged southeastern Australia after a day of blazes that killed two people and injured four firefighters, although authorities warned the worst is yet to come.

A southerly change that came through on Saturday night brought cooler temperatures, after they topped 40C (104F) in many areas, and there was even the prospect of some light rain in coastal areas in the coming days.

But high temperatures and strong winds earlier on Saturday fuelled fires burning on “an entirely new level” along Australia’s east coast.

Prime minister Scott Morrison is facing criticism for his handling of the disaster, with one firefighter telling 7NEWS Sydney: “Go tell the prime minister to get f*****.”

He confirmed two more people died on Saturday, pushing the death toll up to 23, and has called up around 3,000 army reservists to help battle the fires.

Mr Morrison told a news conference: “We are facing another extremely difficult next 24 hours.

“In recent times, particularly over the course of the balance of this week, we have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level.”

A father and son who had been battling flames for two days became the latest victims of the worst wildfire in Australian history on Saturday.

The bodies of ​Dick Lang, 78, an acclaimed bush pilot and outback safari operator, and his 43-year-old son Clayton Lang were found on a highway on Kangaroo Island.

Their family said their losses left them “heartbroken and reeling from this double tragedy”.

Temperatures rose to record levels across the country, hitting 43C in Canberra and 48.9C in Penrith, resulting in increased fire danger.

By Saturday evening, 3,600 firefighters were battling blazes across New South Wales (NSW).

Power was lost in some areas as fires downed transmission lines, and residents were warned that the worst may be yet to come.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said: ​“We are now in a position where we are saying to people it’s not safe to move, it’s not safe to leave these areas,

“We are in for a long night and I make no bones about that. We are still yet to hit the worst of it.”

Mr Morrison said the governor general had signed off on the calling up of reserves “to search and bring every possible capability to bear by deploying army brigades to fire-affected communities”.

According to defence minister Linda Reynolds, it is the first time reservists have been called up “in this way in living memory and, in fact, I believe for the first time in our nation’s history”.

More than 130 fires are burning in NSW, with at least half of them out of control.

Firefighters are battling 53 fires across Victoria state, and conditions are expected to worsen with a southerly wind change.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned conditions would deteriorate rapidly as strong winds and smoke plumes from the fires triggered dry lightning storms and fire tornadoes.

Authorities have been urging people to leave their homes in at-risk areas throughout the week.

But on Saturday, the NSW Rural Fire Service advised those still in certain high-risk areas: “It is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches. Protect yourself from the heat of the fire.”

Scores of homes have been lost to the fires, which have razed over 5.25 million hectares (13 million acres) of land since they began in September.

Emotions were running high among firefighters who feel powerless to stop the raging fires. One firefighter who lost his home was filmed refusing to shake Mr Morrison’s hand on Friday when the prime minister visited Cobargo, NSW, where a father and son were killed by fires earlier in the week.

On Twitter, author Matthew Battles said a firefighter friend wrote to him: “Fighting the fires has been very upsetting… I have never had a shift go less than 16 hours and once we went for 21 hours without a break.

“My emotions are always only millimetres from the surface. I cry at the drop of a hat. I keep crying, because we cannot save all of the houses and people.

“People beg us to save their horses, their cows, their dogs. There are burned animals piled against the remnants of the barbed wire fences. The f****** cattle dogs will not leave the livestock they cared for. They die with the cows. I am crying now.”

Additional reporting by agencies