Australia wakes to third day of major bush fires
Copyright 2001 Reuters
December 27, 2001
SYDNEY - Thousands of firefighters fought fierce bush fires ringing Sydney for a third day today amid fears that strong winds could return to fan the flames.
Police and fire officials said dozens of blazes - some described as "fire storms" - had destroyed about 150 homes and properties, mostly south and west of the city, as fast-moving flames kept firefighters on the retreat.
More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after a bleak Christmas, officials said.
But there were no reports of death or serious injury in the more than 100 bushfires that have blazed across New South Wales (NSW) state since Christmas Day, destroying homes and closing highways.
The outbreak is the worst in summer since 1994, when bushfires ringing Sydney roared into the suburbs, killing four people.
"It is a shocking thing, people's lives are going to have to be rebuilt," acting NSW Premier Andrew Refshauge told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
Firefighters had hoped to take advantage of an overnight drop in wind speed and temperatures to light extensive backburning operations in a bid to starve the fires.
But Rural Fire Service spokesman John Winter said fluctuating winds made the plan impossible in some areas, particularly around some of the worst fires on Sydney's southern outskirts.
Meteorologists forecast cooler conditions with lighter winds for Thursday, but soaring temperatures and more strong winds were possible on Friday and at the weekend.
NSW Rural Fire Commissioner Phil Koperberg has described some blazes as "fire storms" 30 to 60 metres (90 to 180 feet) high. He said the emergency could last for 10 days.
THOUSANDS BATTLE BLAZES
Some 5,000 firefighters, reinforced by hundreds of crews arriving from other states, are battling the fires.
The major blazes are in Sydney's outer western suburbs. The Blue Mountain national park area west of the city and vast areas of the Royal National Park to the south are already burned out.
A line of fire stretched almost unbroken along a 25-km (16-mile) front some 15 km (nine miles) from Sydney's southern suburbs. Hundreds of people from the southern suburb of Heathcote on the edge of The Royal National Park were evacuated overnight as strong southerly winds fanned the massive fire.
Police said a female officer was slightly injured when she was hit by a car while directing traffic away from the southern Sydney fires.
The fires have cut power to some 12,000 homes after burning trees crashed onto powerlines, and poles supporting powerline burned through. In most areas it was still too dangerous for repair crews get through.
Authorities have declared 21 natural disaster areas to the west and north of Sydney and on the nearby south coast.
Dozens of firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation. Some 5,000 sheep were killed in a massive blaze which burnt 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) in the west of the state.
The summer fires began two weeks ago with lightning strikes in remote areas but fire commissioner Koperberg said fires were spread in some cases by arson.
"To consider that this is the work of some evil deed is very difficult to comprehend," Koperberg said.
Many of the fires began in the Blue Mountains national park and swept down from the mountains on Christmas Day along the city's southwest, burning trees and showering beaches with ash.