Authorities in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria declared a state of disaster on Saturday amid bush fires that have destroyed homes, caused large-scale power outages and razed huge swaths of bushland.

The fires have been described as the worst to hit the state since the Black Summer blazes of 2019-2020, which burne out 240,000 square kilometers (93,000 square miles) and killed 33 people.

Several major fires still burning in Victoria

The fires, most of which broke out earlier in the week, have so far burnt across more than 300,000 hectares (741,316 acres) of bushland, authorities said on Saturday.

They said 10 large bushfires were still burning.

Most of the worst blazes have hit sparsely populated rural areas. 

The heavily forested region near the town Longwood, about 112 km (69.6 miles) north of the state capital, Melbourne, has been one of the worst affected, with a bushfire there burning across 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres).

Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said at least 130 structures, including houses, sheds and other buildings had been destroyed across the state.

The fires erupted amid a heat wave in the state, with temperatures surpassing 40 C (104 F).

Hundreds of firefighters from across the country have been called in to help douse the fires, which have also left around 38,000 residences ‌and businesses without power.

Calls to evacuate

The declaration of a state of disaster by state premier Jacinta Allan gives firefighters emergency powers to force evacuations.

"It's all about one thing: protecting Victorian lives," she said. "And it sends one clear message: if you have been told to leave, go."

"Where we can, fires will be being brought under control," Allan said in a televised media conference from Melbourne.

She said three people missing inside one of the state's most dangerous fire regions had been found.

Wiebusch, the emergency management commissioner, said the 10 blazes that are still ongoing would "continue to burn for days, if not weeks."

He added that lightning caused by the intense heat from the blazes could cause more fires on Saturday.

Extreme weather events on land and at sea have increased in frequency in Australia, whose land surface researchers say has warmed by an average of 1.51 C since 1910.

The country is still one of the world's largest producers and exporters of gas and coal, two fossil sources of energy that are key drivers of global warming.

Edited by: Karl Sexton