Some communities in part of Australia have been told it is too late to evacuate as huge and unpredictable wildfires swelled close to the nation’s capital amid soaring temperatures.
Strong winds have caused smaller blazes to spark up to six miles from a fire front near Canberra, where a state of emergency has been declared.
A major highway has been closed and some communities cut off by the extreme conditions have been told it’s too late to leave.
Skies along the Monaro Highway in the Australian Capital Territory turned orange-red as an uncontrolled blaze ballooned to more than 74,000 acres in size.
“The issue we have with the fire activity is that the fire itself is generating its own weather pattern and that, combined with the wind direction, is what is driving that intensity in the fire,” ACT Emergency Services Agency commissioner Georgeina Whelan said in a televised briefing in Canberra.
It is Canberra’s irst declared emergency since 2003 when four people were killed and almost 500 homes destroyed in wildfires.
A second major uncontrolled fire was burning slightly further south in the Snowy Monaro region of New South Wales state, the same alpine area where an air tanker crashed in January killing three American firefighters.
Temperatures were forecast to top 40C in several parts of both NSW and the ACT on Saturday, prompting widespread warnings for people to be alert to the potential fire danger.
More than 60 fires were burning in NSW, with a third of those uncontained and officials issuing emergency level warnings for five in the state’s south.
Around 20 fires were burning in Victoria state, with one at emergency level. Away from the firegrounds, intense rainfall was forecast, with authorities warning of potential “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding.”
“When it comes to the weather, it’s really the tale of two states,” Victoria Emergency Management commissioner Andrew Crisp said on Saturday.
Australia’s devastating and prolonged bushfire season has killed 33 people and an estimated 1 billion native animals since September. About 2,500 homes have been destroyed and more than 26.2 million acres of tinder-dry bushland have been razed.