Aussies trapped by bushfires told it is too late to escape
Dozens of fires fanned by gale-force winds, scorching temperatures and tinder-dry bushland burned out of control in eastern Australia yesterday, as residents were warned it was now too late to leave.
Thousands of firefighters had spread out across New South Wales in anticipation of what they called “off the scale” fire risk and “catastrophic” conditions, but they were unable to prevent several bushfires from breaching containment lines. Authorities told residents in fire-stricken regions to seek shelter, warning they had no time to escape before their communities were engulfed.
Eleven of the more than 100 bushfires scarring the countryside from Sydney to Brisbane were declared emergencies, with numerous towns under direct threat.
“Plenty of people have heeded the warnings and have left early,” said New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons. “Obviously, others have chosen not to. Our advice to those who still may be there is that it is too late to leave on most of these fires, and sheltering is now your only option.”
Experts described conditions as the worst on record, as spring temperatures climbed towards 40°C and winds topped 80kph across a zone which has been plagued by persistent drought. Even before unfavourable weather hit, days of fires had killed three people and destroyed at least 150 homes.
Strong west-to-east winds have spread blazes from dusty bushland to population centres nearer the coast. Up to 600 schools were closed, as well as many national parks, a fire ban was introduced and Rally Australia due to be held at the weekend was cancelled.
The military helped firefighters with logistics and water-dropping sorties using more than 100 aircraft.
In the town of Hillville, a fire has ripped through an area the size of almost 25,000 football fields.
In Sydney, authorities do not expect the city’s four million people to be under direct threat, but a health warning was issued as haze drifted into the city.
This bushfire season is in its infancy, but is on track to be one of the worst on record. In New South Wales alone, more than a million hectares have already burned, three times more than the whole of the last season.