'Gut-wrenching': Houses destroyed as Australian bushfires expected to burn for weeks

Bushfires raging across southeast Australia have destroyed over 130 homes and left thousands without power, with authorities warning it could take weeks to fully contain the blazes.

Reuters

11 January 2026 at 06:59:02

Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026.

Michael Currie/Reuters

Australian authorities said on Sunday (January 11) it would take firefighters weeks to get on top of bushfires in the country's southeast that have razed homes, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland.

The blazes have torn through more than 300,000 hectares (741,316 acres) of bushland in Victoria state since the middle of the week, destroying more than 130 properties, including homes, and leaving thousands without power.

There were more than 30 fires burning in Victoria on Sunday morning, Premier Jacinta Allan said. In neighbouring New South Wales state, several fires close to the Victorian border were burning at emergency level, the highest danger rating, the state's Rural Fire Service said.

Authorities have said the fires are the worst to hit the southeast since the Black Summer blazes of 2019-2020 that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.

Production: Cordelia Hsu/Reuters