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Victoria bushfires: Flaming trees glow pink in mesmerising video filmed in Melbourne

Blaze was caused by multiple lightning strikes

Tom Richell
Sunday 03 March 2019 15:35 GMT
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Australia bushfires: Flaming trees glow pink in mesmerising video filmed in Melbourne

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A volunteer firefighter crew has released footage showing trees glowing pink during intense bushfires at Bunyip State Park near Melbourne.

In the video, the crew can be seen driving through the park while its trees are covered in embers.

The blaze was caused by multiple lightning strikes on Friday but is one of 25 fires across southern Australia in recent days as the country suffers a record-breaking heatwave.

The continent is prone to deadly blazes thanks to its combination of remote terrain, high summer temperatures and flammable eucalyptus bush.

A four-day heatwave has brought severe weather across the southern parts of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania over the weekend.

The south-eastern state of Victoria was the worst hit, with more than 2,000 firefighters, water-bombing aircraft and volunteers battling blazes on Sunday.

“It's a dangerous time, putting it bluntly,” Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said in a televised emergency briefing on Sunday.

“Not just for communities but for firefighters.”

In 2009, the worst bushfires on record destroyed thousands of homes in Victoria, killing 173 people and injuring 414 on a day the media dubbed “Black Saturday”.

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