Fires threatens racing properties as catastrophic conditions loom

Emergency services have issued warnings about a catastrophic day of fire conditions on Friday for parts of Victoria that includes a number of prominent racing properties, with extreme weather predicted.

Trainers with floats are being asked to be on stand-by should hundreds of horses need evacuating as farms face extreme conditions

A number of fires remain out of control near a number of prominent racing properties, including the Hayes family Lindsay Park, Michael Christian and Siobhan Miller’s Longwood Farm as well as Leneva Park, to name a few.

Emergency services confirmed on Thursday night that at the town of Longwood, more than 400 firefighters are tackling a bushfire that has so far burnt through 27,000 hectares and prompted many ‘Leave Now’ emergency warnings. Parts of the Hume Freeway have been closed.

The Age reported on Thursday night that there appeared to be homes lost on the outskirts of Longwood, and also noted horses at one stud farm being spooked by nearby water bombers attempting to put out flames.

CFA deputy incident controller Greg Murphy told residents at an evacuation centre that the fire is fast moving and dangerous.

“[The fire] has travelled quite a significant distance today, and as we speak, there are communities that are burning,” he said.

“And today was a difficult day. Tomorrow is a catastrophic day. So if it’s done that today, you can see the challenges in front of us. Despite our best efforts today, we were not able to control this fire. Tomorrow, we’ve got no chance.

Temperatures across Victoria are predicted to hit mid 40s on Friday before a late cool change, that could be accompanied by storms, making fire conditions extremely dangerous and unpredictable.

Emergency alerts have been sent to residents across a number of areas affecting breeding and racing properties, including some evacuation orders on nearby communities.

The CFA said on Thursday that the Longwood fire could spread to affect more than 20 towns and hamlets in a worst case scenario.

How far Longwood’s fire could spread on Friday

Racing Victoria asked trainers to contact them late on Thursday should they be able to help evacuate horses.

‘’If trainers have a truck available to assist in relocating horses from affected bushfire areas if required they are asked to email equinewelfare@racingvictoria.net.au,’’ RV said.

‘’Please include location, horse capacity, truck availability & your phone number when emailing. Remember to only enter affected bushfire areas when instructed by emergency services that it’s safe to do so.’’

A number of Victorian trainers have since posted on X their willingness to help if needed.