BOBIN:Catastrophic bushfires in eastern Australia have killed at least three peopleand forced thousands from their homes, with the death toll expected to rise asfirefighters struggle towards hard-to-reach communities. In the normallypicturesque coastal town of Forster - one among dozens hit along the easternseaboard - vast plumes of smoke shot out from multiple blazes as water bombersswooped in overhead.
And in Bobin,around 60 kilometers north of Forster, the whole town was scorched with somefires soaring 10 meters along the tree canopy. Some homes were completelyburned to the ground in the small rural town, and in one just a fireplace couldbe seen among the smouldering rubble. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that,if needed, the military could be called on to help some 1,300 firefighters whoare tackling around 100 separate blazes.
Several peopleare still unaccounted for and 30 more have been injured - mostly firefightersworking for hours on end in smoky, smouldering scrubland and blazing forests oftowering eucalyptus. "My only thoughts today are with those who have losttheir lives and their families," Morrison said, as hundreds of civiliansalso volunteered to help their hard-hit neighbors. A body was found in aburnt-out building near the east-coast town of Taree, police said, whileanother victim was found in a car and a woman died despite medics trying forseveral hours to save her.
As hot and windyweather eased slightly on Saturday, the number of most serious fires fell tojust a handful from an unprecedented 17 on Friday. But within an area spanningalmost 1,000 kilometers, schools were burned and at least 150 homes weredestroyed, while authorities were forced to evacuate detention centers and oldpeople's homes. It was a narrow escape for Don Russell, with the fire comingwithin meters of his home in Taree.
"They'vedone a top job, them fellas," Russell told AFP after a crew of sixfirefighters brought the blaze under control. His next-door neighbors were notso lucky, however -- their home went up in flames Saturday afternoon. No onewas home. "It used to be God's country, but it ain't any more," saidanother neighbor, 72-year-old Dave Scott. New South Wales's rural fire servicesaid an emergency warning was in place for four fires among the dozens ragingacross the state.
Tinderbox
Bushfires arecommon in Australia and a vast corps of firefighters had already been tacklingsporadic blazes for months in the lead-up to the southern hemisphere summer.But this was a dramatic start to what scientists predict will be a tough fireseason - with climate change and weather cycles contributing to the dangerouscombination of strong winds, high temperatures and dry conditions. "We'reexperiencing tinderbox-like conditions across much of the state and all ittakes is one spark to start a fire that may burn for days," saidQueensland's acting fire commissioner Mike Wassing.
Meanwhile, NewSouth Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian warned that next week's weather forecast"could mean we're not through the worst of it". Morrison, whosegovernment has played down the threat of climate change, sought to deflectquestions about what impact it may have had. "Australia has been battlingferocious fires for as long as Australia has been a nation, and well before.And we will continue to do so," he said.
'Too late toleave'
Firefighters haddescribed the conditions Friday as "difficult" and"dangerous". In some areas, residents were stuck and told to simply"seek shelter as it is too late to leave". Local radio stopped normalprogramming and provided instructions about how to try to survive fires iftrapped at home or in a vehicle. Across the central coast, smoke billowed highinto the sky and residents posted images online of tangerine skies andstoreys-high trees ablaze.
Authorities saidsome of the fires were creating their own weather conditions - pyrocumulusclouds that enveloped entire towns. Despite easing conditions, a prolongeddrought and high aridity levels will continue to make circumstancescombustible. Earlier this month, some of the same fires cloaked Sydney inhazardous smoke for days. On Saturday it was Brisbane's turn, with the firesenveloping the city centre in a veil of acrid fog.
Swathes ofAustralia have gone months without adequate rainfall, forcing farmers to truckin water, sell off livestock or leave their land to lie fallow. Jim McLennan ofLa Trobe University said the bushfires were "unprecedented", comingso early in the season and in areas that usually have moist soils andvegetation. "However, the fire situation is consistent with our new worldof bushfire threat associated with climate change". - AFP