Rain void forecasts danger
Hot, windy conditions to continue as focus shifts to Queensland
Authorities in Australia warned of dangerous conditions in the coming days as the focus of firefighting yesterday shifted to Queensland, where residents of several communities were told to evacuate immediately.
Hot, dry and windy conditions are creating a severe fire danger in Queensland, and authorities issued a “leave immediately” warning, the highest level, for several areas including Noosa, 150km north of Brisbane.
“Conditions are now very dangerous and firefighters may soon be unable to prevent the fire advancing,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said.“The fire may pose a threat to all lives directly in its path.”
Noosa Mayor Tony Wellington told Reuters that winds were picking up, “making things particularly tricky”.
However, he said many of the residents in the affected north, accessible only by ferry or via the beach, had evacuated earlier this week.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said in a warning: “Leaving immediately is the safest option, as it will soon be too dangerous to drive.”
A helicopter that had been waterbombing a blaze at Pechey, west of Brisbane, crash-landed but its pilot walked away with minor injuries.
Meanwhile, a cool change brought some relief for firefighters in New South Wales. But the state is still on alert.
At one point on Tuesday, 16 fires raged out of control at emergency level simultaneously across NSW, a near record number.
That figure dropped dramatically overnight, and by yesterday there were none.
More than 50 homes were damaged or destroyed and 13 firefighters were injured battling the NSW blazes overnight, officials said.
State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was relieved that the destruction on Tuesday had not been worse. A week-long state of emergency for NSW was declared on Monday because of the fire danger. Tuesday was forecast to be the most dangerous day.
“I have to confess to being hugely relieved this morning that yesterday our amazing volunteers and emergency service personnel withstood the catastrophic conditions and did manage to save life and property,” Berejiklian said in Sydney.
Among those battling the blazes in NSW is 23-year-old pregnant volunteer firefighter Kat Robinson-Williams who has fiercely defended her decision to fight the bush fires.
Robinson-Williams, who is 14 weeks pregnant, told the BBC that she had received many appeals from worried friends to stop. She responded to those appeals on Instagram that she would not “just stay behind”.
“I’m not the first pregnant firefighter and I’m not going to be the last one,” she told the BBC. “I’m still in a position where I’m able to help so I will.”
Although no fires were burning at emergency level in NSW yesterday, rain that would quench the fire danger is not forecast for months.
Firefighters are bracing for more dangerous conditions in coming days, as the entire Australian continent is projected to be in a rain void of sorts, with just a few showers over Tasmania during the next 10 days.
Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said NSW is gearing up for more dire fire weather from tomorrow into the weekend, and the outlook is for hot and dry weather next week. It's unlikely ongoing fires will be extinguished before more perilous fire weather arrives. One fire west of Coffs Harbour, on the state’s north coast, covered 150,000 hectares on Tuesday evening and yesterday was not yet contained.
It’s threatening Yarracooma, Paddys Plain, Cradle Creek and Lowanna. Residents were being advised to monitor conditions closely.
“You can guarantee we’re not going to be able to get around all of these fires before the next wave of bad weather,” Fitzsimmons said.
“Unfortunately there’s no meaningful reprieve. There’s no rainfall in this change and we’re going to continue to have warm, dry conditions dominating in the days and weeks ahead.”
Fitzsimmons issued a warning for the longer-term, as well, according to the Guardian.
“The real challenge is we have an enormous amount of country that is still alight,” Fitzsimmons said. “They won’t have this out for days, weeks, months. Unfortunately the forecast is nothing but aboveaverage temperatures and below-average rainfall over the next few months and we’ve still got summer around the corner.”