MELBOURNE, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The premier of the Australian state of Victoria on Tuesday announced an additional 15 million Australian dollars (about 10 million U.S. dollars) in support funding for communities affected by the statewide bushfire crisis.
Premier Jacinta Allan said at a press conference in the central Victorian town of Alexandra that 10 million Australian dollars of the new funding package will go to a new bushfire clean-up program to help landowners deal with the wreckage of over 500 structures that have been destroyed across the state.
"This is particularly focused for uninsured and underinsured households who have lost their primary place of residence to be able to get underway with the clean-up," she said.
The remaining 5 million Australian dollars of the new funding will be spent waiving fees at landfills in affected areas to ensure that bushfire waste can be disposed of free of charge.
Twelve active fires were continuing to burn across Victoria as of Tuesday, down from 27 on Monday, and Allan said the situation has de-escalated.
Tim Wiebusch, Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner, said that six of those fires were still a concern to firefighting crews and that conditions are expected to become more severe in late January.
He said that the number of structures confirmed to have been destroyed by fires now exceeds 500, including 90 homes that were destroyed in the town of Longwood near Alexandra.
Wiebusch said that detectives from Victoria Police's arson squad are investigating the cause of the Longwood fire, which has burned through 144,000 hectares of land and has a perimeter of 400 km. ■
