Sunday, October 20, 2013
Australian wildfires intensify as temperatures rise
AP Photo: New South Wales Rural Fire Service
Smoke rises from a fire near Springwood, west of Sydney, on Thursday, as nearly a hundred wildfires burn across Australia's New South Wales state. Wildfires in Australia are set to intensify as worsening conditions take hold with higher temperatures and winds expected in the coming days.
Australian wildfires intensify as temperatures rise SYDNEY — Firefighters battling some of the most destructive wildfires to ever strike Australia's most populous state were bracing Saturday for worsening conditions, with higher temperatures and winds expected to intensify the danger in the coming days.
In the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, one of the worst-hit regions in fire-ravaged New South Wales state, 193 homes have been destroyed and another 109 damaged by the fire storm that peaked Thursday, the Rural Fire Service said.
The damage toll announced Saturday was more than double the count from the previous day and was expected to continue to rise as assessment teams and police move deeper into the destruction zone in search of survivors and victims. Homes have been reported destroyed in other regions, but numbers were not yet available.
With 68 fires still burning — 22 of them out of control — and worsening weather conditions forecast through Thursday, authorities were expecting the worst.
"We could see some very, very dire conditions ranging right across the Blue Mountains," Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told Nine Network television.
"The reason we are particularly concerned is that we went into last Thursday with not too much fire. We're going into some bad weather now with lots of fire and literally 310 miles of fire edge that needs to be dealt with, and that will present serious issues should we see that hot, dry, windy weather which is likely toward the middle of the week," he said.
A 63-year-old man died of a heart attack Thursday while protecting his home from fire at Lake Munmorah, north of Sydney, and at least five people — including three firefighters — have been treated in hospitals for burns and smoke inhalation, officials said.
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By Kristen Gelineau of Associated Press
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