Victorian bushfires: Destroyed homes in Pomonal rises to 44 – as desperate residents reveal how long it took for emergency services to respond

The number of homes destroyed by bushfires in western Victoria has risen as residents return to assess the damage.

Prime Minister Jacinta Allan confirmed that 44 homes have been lost in Pomonal in the Grampians National Park, up from 24 on Thursday.

Residents began returning to their properties to inspect the damage after fire threats were lowered

“That is slightly higher than what was previously reported,” she told ABC Radio this morning.

“Pomonal is a small community, so that’s a significant portion, maybe half of the city that has suffered losses.

“There will be a lot of renovations there.”

At least three businesses and 23 outbuildings were also razed in the city.

One house was also lost at Dadswells Bridge, north of the national park, in a separate bushfire.

Residents of Pomonal and Dadswells Bridge began returning to their properties yesterday afternoon to inspect damage after fire threats were downgraded.

Grampians Tourism CEO and community member Marc Sleeman said he was lucky his Pomonal home was still standing.

“It’s bittersweet knowing that many friends and family have lost homes and businesses,” Sleeman told AAP.

“I know we’ve lost some sheds and boats and things like that, but small things compared to what other people have lost.”

It has emerged that almost 200 people were waiting for emergency assistance just before 4pm on Tuesday

Whistleblowers have said that Herald Sun that residents waited as long as six minutes before triple-0 calls were answered as Victoria faced its worst fire risk day in almost five years.

Leaked internal data has exposed the extent of the ‘potentially life-threatening delays’.

It has been revealed that almost 200 people were waiting for emergency help just before 4pm on Tuesday, and people trying to reach a State Emergency Service call-taker were left on hold for as long as 23 minutes.

On 3AW radio this morning, Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes admitted there were long delays for Victorians requesting police assistance and even longer delays for people requesting help from the SES.

“That generated a huge amount of calls, but that is a non-emergency line,” she said.

“That’s the number people call when their lives aren’t in danger, but there are trees around their property and they can’t get out.

‘There were some delays on that line, as you would imagine. There have been more than 4,800 calls to the SES, mainly relating to trees.’

Pomonal residents have been told that local tap water is unsafe to drink, even when boiled.

Emergency assistance payments of $640 per adult and $320 per child with a maximum of $2,240 for a family are available to affected residents.

Payments of $49,000 are available to help eligible people who have lost their homes rebuild.

People can apply for the payments by phone or in person at the emergency centers in Ararat and Stawell.

At least two schools, Pomonal and Halls Gap elementary schools, were closed Thursday due to fires.

Almost all of the fires that started in Victoria on Tuesday are believed to have been started by lightning as severe storms lashed the state.