As it happened: Transport chaos as West Gate Tunnel closed northbound, trains cancelled; Thologolong, Longwood fires spread as Victorians brace for ‘catastrophic’ Friday

Mordialloc Beach again became a site of violence on Wednesday, as police arrested a teenager for attempting to assault them, and a large group verbally abused officers.

It comes just weeks after brawling teens caused chaos at the popular beach twice in two days in December, prompting increased police patrols.

Police attended the beach following reports a teenager was struggling in the water.

“When police arrived, the teen was located nearby on shore, with approximately 200 people nearby.
Police attempted to move the crowd on while assisting the 16-year-old, who was taken to hospital for observation,” a police spokesperson said.

“A second 16-year-old boy was given medical assistance after he had also been in difficulty in the water.”

When police tried to disperse the crowd, they quickly became hostile and verbally abused the officers, the spokesperson said.

“A 17-year-old male was arrested after attempting to assault a police officer. When he was being escorted to a police vehicle, police will allege he spat at an officer.

“This type of behaviour while police are going about their duties is simply unacceptable. No police officer goes to work expecting to be assaulted.”

Beaches across Melbourne were full on Wednesday as people cooled off in the ocean. Mordialloc reached a high of 41 degrees.

Melbourne’s rail system is continuing to be plagued by delays and cancellations as trains are forced to run at slower speeds due to extreme heat.

There are delays of up to 35 minutes for Hurstbridge, Mernda, Cragieburn, Sunbury, Upfield, Werribee and Williamstown trains.

Train tracks swell in severe heat, forcing services to run slower to ensure safe passage.

Shortly after peak hour, Southern Cross Station customer service staff assisted passengers confused by the various cancellations, delays and suspensions.

Valerie Mitchell had been hoping to take a trip to Ballarat with her partner, but their train was stuck between Flinders Street and Southern Cross for over an hour due to a signalling issue.

“I was all right, but there was one bloke [in the carriage] getting very cranky,” she said.

Thank you for reading our live coverage of the heatwave and fires across Victoria. Here is a snapshot of the current situation.

• The temperature has topped 40 degrees in Melbourne. 44.3 degrees in Longerenong, near Horsham, was the hottest temperature recorded in the state.
• Either extreme or catastrophic fire conditions are forecast across the entire state on Friday, a day which emergency services are particularly concerned about.
• The extreme heat has caused delays to most of Melbourne’s train network and forced V/Line services to operate on a reduced timetable.
• Two bushfires and several grass fires are continuing to burn in the state. Nobody has been injured, and no property has been damaged in the fires, emergency services said at 2.30pm.
• Residents near Longwood – south-east of Euroa – are being urged to shelter as an uncontrolled bushfire burns in the area. “It is now too dangerous to leave,” the emergency warning reads.
• A separate bushfire is raging out of control at Mount Lawson State Park, east of Wodonga. It has destroyed more than 1500 hectares of the state park. Nearby residents are being advised to leave immediately.

Trains have been cancelled and forced to slow due to extreme heat on the tracks, causing delays to several busy lines.

Some services have been cancelled on the Pakenham, Frankston, Hurstbridge and Mernda lines. There are also major delays of up to 35 minutes on the Upfield, Williamstown, Sunbury, Craigieburn and Werribee lines as network controllers put in place speed restrictions.

Alamein, Belgrave, Lilydale, Pakenham, Cranbourne and Frankston trains are experiencing minor delays up to 15 minutes. Only the Sandringham and Stony Point lines are listed as a “good service” on the Metro Trains website.

Train tracks expand in severe heat, forcing network controllers to reduce speeds to ensure passenger safety.

When track temperatures reach 55 degrees, the maximum train speed is reduced to 80km/h, and on days when the ambient temperature is forecast to reach 42 degrees the speed is reduced to a 70km/h maximum. Trains normally travel at 110km/h.

V-Line is running regional trains to an extreme-heat timetable today. This will continue tomorrow and Friday. Among the changes, coaches will replace trains between Swan Hill and Bendigo.

Check the Metro Trains website for the latest information.

Public flight-tracking data shows the biggest planes in Victoria’s aerial firefighting fleet have both just been deployed to a blaze near Longwood.

The two large air tankers were stationed in Albury, near a fire in the Mount Lawson State Park along the NSW border, but flew over the new fire just south-west of Euroa about 3.30pm.

The two Dash-8 Q400s can drop 10,000 litres of retardant or water each and just landed at Avalon after their afternoon trip down the Hume Highway.

An Erickson air crane helicopter and a few other small firefighting aircraft are continuing to tackle the Longwood blaze now amid scorching heat.

If you want to read more about how Victoria’s aerial firefighting fleet works, check out this visual story about how it tackled the Halls Gap fire last summer.

Three Victorian regions now have a “catastrophic” fire danger rating for Friday, the most severe possible warning.

If a fire takes hold under catastrophic conditions, lives and homes are likely to be lost.

North Central, Northern Country and Wimmera regions had their ratings elevated by emergency services shortly after 4pm, due to worsening conditions.

Read what that rating means here.

All three regions are expected to reach 40 degrees and experience severe winds. There is also a chance of thunderstorms without rain.

“A catastrophic fire danger rating means fires are unpredictable and uncontrollable. We need the community to play their role alongside our emergency services to protect lives and property,” said Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch.

“Prepare now and enact your bushfire survival plan. If you are in an area of forecast catastrophic fire danger, leave early to an area with a lower fire risk.”

All other regions in Victoria have an “extreme” fire danger rating.

A man near the bushfire at Thologolong – currently at an emergency level – has captured the enormous smoke cloud emanating from it.

As of the latest update, the fire has consumed 1500 hectares of Mount Lawson State Park and is travelling south towards Bunjil. Properties at Thologolong and Bunjil could be impacted, the CFA warns.

There are 103 trucks responding to the fire.

At a 2.30pm press conference, Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said authorities were not aware of any properties that had yet been burnt.

A community meeting will be held at 11.30am tomorrow at Walwa Recreation Reserve, O’Halloran Street, Walwa.

A top temperature of 43 degrees is forecast in the area on Thursday and Friday.