Thousands told to flee Australian fires
STRONG winds threatening to fan a bushfire prompted Australia yesterday to urge thousands of people to leave their homes in the Western Australia state capital of Perth, complicating a lockdown after WA detected its first coronavirus infection in 10 months.
The fire has destroyed a swathe of more than 9,000 hectares and 71 homes, the authorities said, in a reminder of blazes that destroyed millions of hectares of habitat in the country’s east a year ago.
As firefighters battled a blaze in steep, inhospitable terrain, authorities told residents of Bullsbrook, a suburb of 6,600 in Australia’s fourth largest city, to ignore the stay-home order and leave immediately as hot, dry weather picked up.
“We know how quickly things can go bad,” State Premier Mark McGowan told a news conference.
“They are expecting extremely strong winds. That is why we are saying, if you can leave, please leave now. Please act to save your life.”
At the same time, 2 million residents of the city are under a five-day lockdown until tomorrow, after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for the highly contagious variant of the virus first detected in Britain.
The rules require them to stay home, except for essential work, health care, grocery shopping or exercise, while visits to hospitals and nursing homes are banned.
“It’s important everyone should have a plan and when emergency service personnel ask you to act on that plan, that trumps any lockdown orders,” said David Littleproud, the emergency management minister.
No deaths have been reported from the fires so far, the origins of which are still unknown.