Victoria bushfires: Grim discovery as first fatality is confirmed - after Premier slammed despicable act amid worst fire season since Black Summer inferno
Authorities have delivered a blunt warning over a shocking act, as bushfires continue to rage across the state.
Victoria's bushfire disaster has turned deadly with human remains found about 100metres from a car torched in the Longwood blaze in the state's central-north.
Police said in a statement shortly before 4pm on Sunday that the body had been found off off Yarck Road, at Gobur, marking the first confirmed fatality in the fires.
'Victoria Police confirms human remains have sadly been found in the Longwood bushfire area,' police said in a statement.
'Police were able to access a fire-affected stretch off Yarck Road at Gobur this afternoon. The remains were found around 100m from a vehicle. The person is yet to be formally identified. Police will prepare a report for the Coroner.'
The tragedy came after Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan slammed 'fire tourists' for travelling to bushfire-ravaged towns to gawk at the devastation.
Firestorms have torn through more than 350,000 hectares across the state in recent days, wiping out dozens of communities and reducing at least 300 structures to rubble.
Some 38,000 households are without power, with authorities racing to restore it, while 32 active fires continue to burn across the state.
Three major blazes are still at emergency warning level, with conditions at their worst level since the 2019 Black Summer Bushfires.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has slammed 'fire tourists' for travelling to bushfire-ravaged towns to gawk at the devastation
Firestorms have torn through more than 350,000 hectares across the state in recent days (pictured, a destroyed property in Harcourt)
By early Sunday afternoon, three major blazes were still at emergency warning level (pictured, grass fire burns a hillside in Longwood)
On Sunday, Allan condemned sightseers entering fire-flattened towns and delivered a sharp message: ‘Stay away.’
‘It is wrong to go into these fire grounds where it’s unsafe and you don’t belong there, and you’ll be dealt with by Victoria Police,’ she said.
Emergency management commissioner Tim Weibusch echoed her frustration, revealing that authorities had already intercepted unwanted visitors in restricted areas.
‘Disappointingly, in the last 24 hours we’ve started to see some tourists or spectators heading into some of our fire‑impacted zones,’ he said.
‘I can’t emphasise enough, the state of disaster is now in place for 18 local government areas. Where those fire‑impacted zones appear on the Vic Emergency website, those are the areas we do not expect to see visitors.
‘Our clear message is that in the fire‑impacted zones, these are not places for visitors, spectators or tourists; they are places for our emergency services and, when safe, local residents.’
Residents across Victoria are being warned that Sunday’s cool change may not deliver the relief many hope for, with volatile winds threatening to reignite already-devastating bushfires.