Smoke blankets Sydney as fires rage on
Smoke blanketed Sydney today as thousands of firefighters battled blazes around Australia’s biggest city for the sixth day in a row.
Emergency workers said they were hopeful cooler, more humid conditions would make fighting the fires easier. Strong winds that earlier propelled the blazes were also dying down.
Eighty fires were raging around New South Wales state, but the only major blaze close to Sydney was in the Blue Mountains, 55 miles to the west.
“There is still the prospect of at least some showers tonight,” said rural fire service spokesman John Winter. “That will certainly cool things down for us.”
But he warned the expected wet weather would not mean a definitive end to the crisis that has destroyed 50 homes and left two elderly men dead since first flaring last Wednesday amid dry conditions, searing temperatures and strong winds.
The rain “is not likely to put any of the fires out but it will certainly help keep the activity level down for the next few days,” Winter said.
“We certainly can’t rest on any laurels. We certainly can’t take it easy,” he added. “There’s going to be a long summer ahead of us unless we get significant rainfall.”
Fire chief Phil Koperberg said firefighters would be busy over the next few days making sure every ember was out.
“The problem is dissipating but the firefighters will be out there for many, many days yet performing the arduous, dirty, labour-intensive task of mopping up,” Koperberg said. “Otherwise we will have outbreaks again as soon as the sun shines again.”
Each Southern Hemisphere summer, searing heat often tops 40 C (104 F) and hot winds from Australia’s arid Outback fan firestorms along the continent’s heavily populated eastern coastal fringe.
But a drought affecting almost 90% of Australia has made this year’s bush fire season one of the worst in decades. Some of the fires are also believed to have been started by arsonists, or by careless smokers throwing cigarette butts out of car windows.
Since Wednesday, fires have scorched 250,000 acres of land.
