NSW bushfires threaten homes

SYDNEY: Australian authorities ordered the evacuation of some sparsely populated rural areas of New South Wales yesterday as bushfires, fanned by extreme heat and strong winds, raged across the state, threatening homes and closing roads.

A heatwave on Australia’s east coast saw temperatures break records in some parts of the state, creating conditions that officials said were worse than those preceding Victoria’s 2009 “Black Saturday” fires, Australia’s worst bush fire event that killed 173 people.

“This is the worst day we have seen in the history of New South Wales when it comes to fire danger ratings and fire conditions,” Shane Fitzsimmons, the state’s rural fire chief, told reporters.

He said there were unconfirmed reports of homes, farm sheds and machinery being destroyed by fastmoving fires breaking containment lines. There were no reports of injuries, but some firefighters were suffering from heat-related issues.

By yesterday afternoon, emergency warnings were issued for five rural areas. People were told to evacuate if they could, or seek shelter and avoid bush or grassland where it was too late to leave.

More than 2,000 firefighters, many of them volunteers, were battling 86 fires across New South Wales yesterday afternoon, with 38 of them not under control.

Temperatures climbed above 45C in some parts. Dry and hot northwesterly winds coming from Australia’s desert centre, some up to 75kph, were fanning the bushfires.

A southerly wind change associated with a cold front was forecast to arrive by early evening, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Mr Fitzsimmons said the front would eventually offer relief, but would create volatile conditions as it met the northwesterly flow.