Hundreds of thousands of Victorians remain without power, as clean-up efforts reveal the damage left behind by destructive bushfires and storms which hit the state on Tuesday.
The energy market operator says it could take days, and possibly weeks, to restore electricity to some of the 270,000 properties still without power.
She thanked firefighters battling intense blazes at Pomonal near the Grampians.
“Yesterday was only the second day since the fires of Black Saturday in 2009, 15 years ago, that had that catastrophic [bushfire] rating,” the premier said.
Rick Nugent, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, said the farmer was aged 50.
“Our thoughts are with his family, loved ones and friends at the moment,” he said.
Later, Nugent said: “[The] early indication is that he was on a tractor and that he was hit by some flying debris.”
Vision from the Dadswells Bridge fire, contributed by flower farmer Jeffrey Beats. 1/ pic.twitter.com/WE10Nm6jrw
— Angus Verley (@angusverley) February 14, 2024