There has been declared a state of emergency in the area around Australia’s capital, Canberra, which is threatened by wildfires.
Not far from the southern suburbs of Canberra is the bush and forest fires out of control.
– the Combination of extreme heat, wind and a dry landscape will be a danger to the southern suburbs in the coming days, says Andrew Barr, the head of the government of the regime in the Australian Capital Territory, according to the news agency dpa.
the Situation constitutes ‘the worst threat from bushbrande since the devastating fires in 2003’, he elaborates.
In 2003 there were 160.000 hectares of land around the capital engulfed in flames. It is equivalent to two-thirds of the area around Canberra. 470 homes were destroyed, while four people died.
For a time the raging fire Orroral Valley, Four at the Namadgi National Park, which extends into the hovedstadsterritoriet and runs along the border of the state of New South Wales.
It has already consumed 185 square kilometers, equivalent to nearly eight percent of its land area.
the Fire can be very unpredictable. It can be uncontrollable, says Andrew Barr, according to dpa.
the state of Emergency gives the authorities to order the evacuations and the shut down of power and water.
It will provisionally apply in 72 hours.
hundreds of firefighters struggling with the great fire, which is believed to have been ignited accidentally on Monday of a landing of a helicopter from the australian defence.
Both in the federal states of Victoria and New South Wales are preparing residents on worse conditions towards the weekend expected to bid at temperatures up to 40 degrees. It writes the news agency Reuters.
Also in the neighboring country of New Zealand there are 25 fires. Here is also expected to the heatwave over the weekend.
Since september, at least 33 people died in the australian wildfires that have ravaged the country’s east coast. It is estimated that around one billion animals are dead.
in Addition, 2500 home and 117.000 square kilometers of land have been razed, writes Reuters.
