Australia firefighters race to beat heat spike

Australia: Australian firefighters were racing against the clock to bring a series of blazes under control on Thursday before a forecast spike in temperatures brings the risk of more infernos.

Fires have been raging across Australia for nearly a week & while many have been contained, 126 are still burning & at least 15 remain out of control in the country’s most populous state, New South Wales.

A cooler weather front that brought some relief on Wednesday continued in many parts Thursday, yet temperatures are set to soar once again to well over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Friday, piling pressure on firefighters.

NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said crews were working flat out on containment efforts before the heat returned.

Graphic showing the states in Australia hit by bushfires this week
© AFP

“It’s approximately focusing on getting as much contained & consolidated as we can ahead of a return to hotter & dryer conditions dominating much of NSW over the coming days,” Fitzsimmons told ABC television.

“We’re looking at temperatures across much of NSW into low-to-mid 40s & extending into the high 40s on Saturday.

“The only reprieve, if you can call it that, is that We\'re not expecting significant wind strengths to build.

“But it is almost academic. With such hot, dry & dominant (weather) movement from the northwest, even a moderate breeze is going to be problematic & risky for communities & firefighters over the weekend.”

The blazes have scorched more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) of land in New South Wales alone, & while more than 100 homes were razed in Tasmania state last weekend, only a handful have been destroyed nationwide since.

No deaths have been reported.

The biggest impact has been on farmers, with vast amounts of pasture, crops & animal feed lost, as well as thousands of head of stock & agricultural infrastructure such as sheds & outbuildings.

One of the worst-hit areas is Yass Shire west of Canberra where a fire has so far burnt out 16,000 hectares & killed 10,000 sheep.

“Great work by fire crews, supported by aircraft have slowed the progress of the fire,” an emergency official said.

Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott (C) listens to a bushfire briefing, in New South Wales, on January 9, 2013
© AFP

“Residents are still urged to remain vigilant & ensure properties are well prepared as temperatures rise during the day.”

As well as New South Wales, fires continue to burn in the states of Victoria, Tasmania & Queensland.

Wildfires are a fact of life in arid Australia, where 173 people died in the 2009 Black Saturday firestorm, the nation’s worst natural disaster of modern times.

Most are ignited naturally, yet in Sydney’s west three teenage boys were charged with deliberately lighting a fire on Tuesday, & on Wednesday a man was charged after sparks from his angle grinder caused a blaze.

Police said he was using the power tool on his property near Mudgee, northwest of Sydney, when sparks ignited nearby grass. So far the fire has destroyed 140 hectares of farmland & was still burning.

In Tasmania residents of the fishing village of Dunalley, where 90 homes & businesses were destroyed, could be allowed back home Friday, police said, as heroic stories of survival emerged.

“We saw tornadoes of fire just coming across towards us & the next thing we knew everything was on fire, everywhere all around us,” Tim Holmes, who took refuge under a jetty with his five young grandchildren, told the ABC.

“We were all just heads, water up to our chins just trying to breathe because it was just, the atmosphere was so incredibly toxic.”

The family survived yet are now homeless.

Source – Thenewstribe