Australia: Firefighters race against time before heat wave
January 7, 2020
Firefighters are working around the clock as temperatures and winds are expected to pick up, threatening to ignite a fresh wave of fires. But Australian Open organizers have insisted the tennis tournament will go on.
Image: Imago/B. Xuefei
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Australian firefighters took advantage of Tuesday's brief drop in temperatures and much-needed rain to control catastrophic wildfires in the southeast of the country, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepared to meet with financial bosses to discuss the soaring costs of the crisis.
Firefighters and volunteers strengthened containment lines around almost 200 bushfires and carried out controlled burns before winds and temperatures were anticipated to pick up again by Friday.
"It really is about shoring up protection to limit the damage potential and the outbreak of the fires over the coming days," said New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
While Tuesday's conditions were "much more favorable," he warned that "we are expecting hotter weather to return later in the week."
Dozens of massive wildfires continue to burn in the east of the country. Fire authorities fear that two blazes in the states of New South Wales and Victoria could connect to create a mega blaze.
"We have no prospect of containment on all those fires, but we can use this time," RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers told reporters. "They are trying to secure fire lines where they can, to try and minimize where these fires will burn again when conditions do warm up."
Australia is grappling with its worst bushfire season to date. The nation has been forced to reckon with a rising death toll, mass evacuations and suffering animal populations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Davey
Widespread devastation
Massive bushfires have devastated Australia as the blazes continue to rage across the country. Since the start of one of the worst fire seasons on record, more than 2,500 homes have been burned, tens of thousands of people evacuated, and at least 29 killed. Here, a photographer reacts to seeing the burnt-out remains of a relative's home in Quaama, New South Wales.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Davey
Area the size of South Korea razed
As of January 17, fires have burnt roughly 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of land, an area larger than South Korea or Portugal. More than 170 fires continue to burn in Victoria state and New South Wales. There were 82 fires burning across New South Wales, 30 uncontained, and several fires in Victoria, according to fire authorities.
Image: Imago/B. Xuefei
Battling the blazes
Firefighters protect homes around Charmhaven, New South Wales, on December 30. Wildfires burning across four Australian states that day destroyed hundreds of properties and caused multiple fatalities. A volunteer firefighter was killed and three others were injured after strong winds pushed a fire truck over.
Image: picture-allianceAP/Twitter@NSWRFS
Red skies
A person stands in protective gear as nearby bushfires turn the sky red in Mallacoota, Victoria. Thousands of people in the coastal region were told to evacuate over the New Year period, while the Country Fire Authority later issued an ominous warning to residents still in the area that it was "too late to leave." Some 4,000 people spent New Year's Eve on the beach to avoid the flames.
An air tanker drops fire retardant over the Gospers Mountain fire near Colo Heights, northwest of Sydney, Australia on November 15, 2019. The Gospers Mountain fire originated in the Wollemi National Park, and came close to merging with other major fires in the area. Fires have torn apart the Blue Mountains, a popular tourist area, burning more than 500,000 hectares of land.
Image: Reuters/AAP/D. Lewins
Quick escape
A burnt bicycle lies on the ground in front of a house destroyed by bushfires on the outskirts of the town of Bargo, near Sydney, on December 21, 2019. The town was hit with a catastrophic fire danger warning as fires turned several nearby homes to ashes. The New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a state of emergency that same week.
Image: Getty Images/D. Gay
Toddler receives posthumous medal for firefighter father
Firefighters are among the 28 people who have lost their lives in the fires. Some were volunteers. Thirty-two-year-old Geoffrey Keaton, along with a colleague, died when a burnt tree fell in the path of their fire truck. Keaton's nineteen-month-old son Harvey was awarded one of the service's highest honors on behalf of his father on January 2.
Image: Reuters/NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE
Animals caught in the flames
A kangaroo that survived the bushfire in Wollemi National Park in Sydney grazes for food in November 2019. The fires have not only sparked concern over human well-being, but have also created worries over the survival of endangered and vulnerable animals. The fires have killed more than a billion animals across eastern and southern Australia.
Image: Imago Images/AAP/J. Piper
Economic toll
The Insurance Council of Australia said on January 7 that the bushfires have caused at least US$485 million (€435 million) in damage and that number was likely to rise. Separately, authorities warned of looters in towns where people have evacuated and scammers taking advantage of fundraisers for relief efforts.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Koala species threatened by fires
The bushfires have devastated Australia's koala population. In New South Wales state alone, officials estimate 30% of koala habitat - eucalpyt woodlands, which they use for both food and shelter - may have been lost. At least 45 koalas were being treated for burns at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.
Image: Reuters/AAP Image/D. Mariuz
Australians take to the streets
Thousands of people took to the streets on January 10 in Australia's major cities to rally against Prime Minister Scott Morrison's inaction on climate change and his handling of the ongoing bushfire crises. The nationwide rallies were organized by university students in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.
Image: picture alliance/ZUMAPRESS
Smoke across oceans
Smoke from Australia drifted across the Pacific and reached South America, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on January 7. On January 2, the EU Copernicus program recorded the highest concentrations of atmospheric carbon monoxide in the world over the "clean" South Pacific Ocean stemming from the fires in Australia.
Image: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Soaring costs
Fires have ripped through more than 8.6 million hectares (21.3 million acres) of land across Australia, destroying thousands of homes.
The government has allocated an initial 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion, €1.3 billion) for a national recovery fund to assist fire-hit communities.
On Tuesday, the Insurance Council of Australia increased its estimate for bushfire-related insurance claims to more than 700 million Australian dollars, with claims predicted to leap when more affected areas are accessible.
The commitment could compromise Morrison's election promise to provide Australia's first budget surplus in more than a decade this financial year.
The prime minister is expected to meet with insurance and bank executives to discuss the fire crisis.
"There's going to be a very significant economic impact, but ... we want to get money out into these communities as fast as possible," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Organizers at the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam said on Tuesday that smoke from the bushfires is unlikely to delay the event.
