 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Wildfires scorch Australia, home destroyed
Sydney (AFP) Dec 17, 2009 Australian firefighters battled nearly 100 blazes on Thursday which engulfed at least one home and put several others under threat. More than 200 firefighters using 50 firetrucks and five aircraft fought one of the fiercest infernos at Londonderry near Australia's biggest city Sydney, where the home was destroyed. "We've had a property there destroyed by fire in the afternoon," Rural Fire Service spokesman Anthony Clark told public radio, warning the blaze was burning "very quickly and very aggressively". Emergency warnings were sent out by text message and landline urging residents near Gerogery in the southern border region of New South Wales state to flee their homes if safe to do so. "We've got a lot of fire crews working to contain the fire and protect isolated rural properties in the area," Clark said, adding that a change in wind direction was expected later. "That may cause some further challenging conditions for us. It will whip up the wind and that can also fan the fire in a new direction," he said. More than 80 wildfires were burning in New South Wales with about a dozen out of control, fire officials said. Several blazes also flared in neighbouring Victoria, prompting separate emergency warnings there. Australia is still recovering from February's Black Saturday fires, when 173 people died in the country's worst natural disaster of modern times. The annual bushfire season has struck early this year, fanned by hot and dry conditions and following a decade-long drought in parts of the country. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology
More than 120 wildfires hit southeastern AustraliaSydney (AFP) Dec 10, 2009 More than 120 wildfires fanned by high winds and soaring temperatures raged in southeastern Australia Thursday, prompting emergency warnings for several towns, officials said. Some 2,000 firefighters tackled the fires in New South Wales, where a large blaze was burning dangerously close to farming properties in the state's northwest. "A fire is burning in very high fire-danger conditions ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook