Authorities have issued several evacuation orders in Australia’s Victoria state as wildfires burn out of control, with parts of the country’s heavily populated east coast sweltering under a heat wave.

Firefighters in Victoria are battling a number of blazes across rural areas of the state, which sits on Australia’s southeastern coast, while a series of smaller fires have cropped up in parts of New South Wales. Temperatures are set to hit highs of 46 degrees Celsius in some areas, the national weather bureau said.

“Today represents one of the most dangerous fire days that this state has experienced in years,” said Jacinta Allan, premier of Victoria, which was hit by the Black Saturday fires in 2009, the worst in Australia’s history.

Parts of Victoria face catastrophic fire risks, and blazes that “develop or are already burning will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to fight”, Christie Johnson, senior meteorologist at Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, said in recorded remarks on Friday morning.

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Warmer-than-average conditions dried parts of Victoria and New South Wales throughout much of 2025, elevating wildfire risks for both states. Previous deadly blazes have scorched vast areas of Australia, killed native animals, and sent smoke halfway across the globe, darkening skies in Argentina.

Some relief will come over the weekend as a cold front sweeps southeastern Australia, but not before much of New South Wales including Sydney, sees its highest temperatures for the week on Saturday, according to the bureau. The exit from a heat wave can itself elevate wildfire risks.

“The main danger period is often around the boundary of the cooler change — when winds swing from the northwest to the southwest,” said Anthony Cornelius, managing director of Australian commercial forecaster Weatherwatch. “This results in a rapid change in fire direction and can change a narrow fire front to a broad fire front.”

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As the mercury climbs during the day, the need for cooling could drive a spike in electricity use, potentially straining the grid. One weather model is indicating that Victoria could see its highest power demand since 2014, said Mark Todoroff, Asia-Pacific sales manager for demand forecaster Yes Energy.