Human remains found as bushfires continue to ravage Australia

Human remains found as bushfires continue to ravage Australia

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Human remains have been found in southeastern Australia, where devastating bushfires raged for days, police confirmed on Sunday. The fires have destroyed many buildings, left thousands of homes without power and scorched large swaths of bushland in the region.

The out-of-control fires, exacerbated by a summer heatwave, have devoured more than 350,000 hectares (860,000 acres) of bushland in Victoria since mid-week. More than 300 buildings, including homes, were razed to the ground and thousands of people were plunged into darkness.

Authorities warned it was the worst fires to hit the southeast since the catastrophic “Black Summer” fires of 2019-2020, which devastated an area the size of Turkey and claimed 33 lives.

The human remains were discovered by a car near the town of Longwood, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of the state capital Melbourne, Victoria Police said in a statement, adding that the victim had not yet been identified.

The fire, one of the largest on Sunday, has destroyed property, vineyards and farmland.

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said more than 30 fires were burning across the state. The state’s Rural Fire Service said multiple fires near the Victorian border in neighboring New South Wales, including Sydney, were at the highest danger level.

A burned car parked in front of a property during the bushfires in Longwood, Victoria, Australia on January 9, 2026

A burned car parked in front of a property during the bushfires in Longwood, Victoria, Australia on January 9, 2026 (American AP Association)

Chris Hardman, chief fire officer for the Victorian Forest Fire Service, said it could take weeks for firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

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“These fires are not going to be contained until the weather gets hot, dry and windy again,” Hardman told ABC television.

Allen posted on

“Bushfire smoke is affecting air quality in many parts of Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the federal government would provide emergency funding to residents and farmers hit by the bushfires because they were “paying a huge price for the immediate emergency distribution of livestock feed”.

“It is estimated that thousands of cattle may be affected,” Albanese said in a televised address.