Tourists defy warnings to evacuate Oz bushfires zone

‘An accident waiting to happen’

THOUSANDS of tourists are refusing to follow evacuation orders despite an unprecedented bushfire emergency.

In what would be one of the biggest operations in Australian history, around 30,000 holidaymakers and 45,000 locals were yesterday told to leave the East Gippsland region of the southern state of Victoria.

But many were staying put, either hoping the fires would spare them, or fearing chaos on the roads.

Michael Smits, who runs the Big 4 Whiters Holiday Village, said just six of the 67 groups staying there had evacuated.

‘Many people are saying that they’re going to hang about town, go to a cafe, perhaps go to the beach or wander up and down the Esplanade. There’s certainly no panic,’ he added.

Iain Podd, who is staying at a park on the edge of the fire zone, said: ‘The receptionist here has told us that the direction of the wind means we won’t be affected. But of course we will move on if the situation changes.’

Officials said the area was served by only one major road, which was at risk of being closed.

A tourist told TV’s Seven News: ‘Thirty, forty thousand people on the Princess Highway at once. That’s just chaos – an accident waiting to happen.’

Ben Rankin, an incident controller, said conditions were approaching those of ‘Black Saturday’ in 2009 when 180 people died in wildfires.

Daniel Andrews, premier of Victoria, posted a tweet urging tourists to leave: ‘If you are in East Gippsland you should leave today while it’s safe to do so.

‘Residents should activate their fire plan and consider staying with friends and family outside the area. If you are visiting, you should leave today.’