Bushfire horror eased by rainfall
COOLER temperatures and rainfall have given Australia some respite from the bushfires that have devastated the country, officials said last night.
The blazes have raged since September, killing at least 27 people, with 2,000 homes destroyed and an estimated one billion animals dead.
Conditions eased yesterday after a gruelling Friday night, when two wildfires whipped up by high winds merged to form a major inferno in the south-east of the country.
It left one man seriously burnt as he tried to save his home near Tumbarumba, in New South Wales, while several firefighters received minor burns and injuries.
Authorities now expect at least a week of milder weather, allowing them to step up defences against the huge
‘We’ll have more hot weather’
blazes still burning. Shane Fitzsimmons, commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, said: “It will probably be the best seven days we have had without a rise of very dangerous fire ratings.”
Andrew Crisp, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, added: “It is great to have some respite now, so we can reset and refocus in terms of our operational activities and what we can do to support the community. But we will have more hot weather.”
Meanwhile, TV’S Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-bridge, 34, has joined celebrities in raising money for charities providing fire relief by auctioning off the black and gold outfit she wore at the Golden Globes.
With a starting bid of £41,000, the ebay auction ends on January 20. Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has pledged £380,000 and cricket legend Shane Warne raised £528,500 at an auction.