12/28/01 -- Sydney Devastated by Wild Fires

Sydney Devastated by Wild Fires

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Tearful residents salvaged what they could from their charred homes on Friday as officials feared dozens of forest fires raging across Australia's most populous state could escalate and burn out of control for days.

``I watched my house disintegrate,'' said Peter Philbrook, who lost everything in a firestorm in the tiny town of Warrimoo on Sydney's western outskirts.

More than 4,400 people have been evacuated and at least 150 homes and thousands of acres of forest and farmland have been blackened by more than 100 fires, many of which were apparently lit deliberately.

Three teen-age boys and two men have been arrested for allegedly starting a number of blazes, but police said other arsonists remain at large. The maximum penalties for arson are 25 years in prison if death results and 14 years in prison otherwise.

A blanket of thick white and brown haze hung over Sydney, Australia's largest city and the capital of New South Wales state, where dozens of fires burned around its northern, southern and western perimeter.

Thousands of animals, including birds, koalas and kangaroos, have probably died, wildlife officials said.

Outback gales that have fanned the flames for the past week eased Friday. However, firefighters in the bush warned it would only be a short respite.

Helicopters dropped water on hotspots and more than 15,000 firefighters, most of them volunteers, have been deployed. Emergency controllers are using satellite imaging and infrared technology to map the fires' onslaught.

Australian fire officials said they were considering offers of help from two U.S.-based groups - the International Association of Fire Chiefs based in Fairfax, Va. and the National Fire Protection Association in Quincy, Mass.

They called for calm after meteorologists predicted that strong dry winds, plummeting humidity and soaring temperatures would return to strengthen the fires.

``With the majority of fire uncontained and very little prospect of containment in the immediate future, we are looking at four very difficult days,'' said Rural Fire Services Commissioner Phil Koperberg. ``I do urge a very high level of calm during the next four or five days.''

Koperberg, the state's top firefighter, said that so far there have been no fatalities or serious injuries.

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Earlier Stories

Homeless Sift Through Charred Remains (December 28)

Wildfires Rage in Australia (December 27)

Fires Kill Thousands of Aussie Animals (December 27)

Fires Rage Out of Control in Australia (December 26)

Bush Fires Rage in Australia (December 25)

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