Australian bushfires ease, promise reprieve to build defenses
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[January 11, 2020]
By John Mair and Lidia Kelly
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Bushfire conditions eased in Australia on Saturday
after a grueling night for firefighters, with authorities saying they
expect at least a week of milder weather in which to step up defenses
against the huge blazes still burning.
Cooler temperatures and rainfall had eased conditions after Friday's
strong southerly wind change that packed gusts of more than 100 kph (60
mph), whipping some fires on the east coast up to the emergency warning
level.
The much needed respite was an opportunity to consolidate and try and
get the upper hand over the fires, said Shane Fitzsimmons, commissioner
of the New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service.
"It would appear that we have got at least a week," Fitzsimmons told a
media briefing. "It will probably be the best seven days we have had
without a rise of very dangerous fire ratings."
New South Wales police said in a statement that areas not affected by
the bushfires of the South Coast, a popular holiday destination, are in
a position to reopen for business, although national parks remain close
until Feb. 1.
Officials have been urging foreign tourists to continue visiting
Australia, which depends on income from tourism as the industry accounts
for 3.1% of the country's gross domestic product.
South Australian fire officials said the situation on Kangaroo Island
has stabilized after more than 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) had
burnt in blazes described as "hell on earth", by the island's mayor,
Michael Pengill, on Twitter.
Since October, 27 people have been killed in Australia and thousands
subjected to repeat evacuations as huge and unpredictable fires scorched
more than 10.3 million hectares (25.5 million acres), an area roughly
the size of South Korea.
The Sydney Opera House was expected to illuminate its sails on Saturday
evening with a display of images from the last three months of the fire
crisis, honoring those affected and those fighting the flames.
Despite Saturday's respite, authorities were clear, however, that the
risk was far from over.
"It is great to have some respite now, so we can reset and refocus in
terms of our operational activities and what we can do to support
community, but we will have more hot weather," Andrew Crisp, Victoria's
emergency management commissioner, told reporters.
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Burnt bicycles are
left by the beach amongst burnt trees where people had previously
taken shelter during a fire on New Years' Eve in Mallacoota,
Australia January 10, 2020. REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Here are key events in the crisis:
* Across New South Wales, nearly 140 fires were stillburning by
Saturday afternoon, 59 of them not contained, butnone at emergency
level. About 2,000 homes have been destroyedin the state. * One New
South Wales person was taken to hospital in Sydneyon Friday with
serious burns suffered while defending aproperty. * One fire was
still burning at emergency level in Victoriaon Saturday from a total
of about 20 burning there. * A number of fires burning in the Snowy
Mountains region inNew South Wales and across into Victoria have
merged across morethan 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land.
They do notpose a threat, authorities say, despite being in an area
hard toreach. * Victoria emergency services minister Lisa Neville
urgedcommunities affected by the fires to use the expected
milderweather conditions to check on each other. * Thousands of
Australians took to the streets on Friday toprotest against
government inaction on climate change, and weresupported by
protesters in London. * Westpac estimated total bushfire losses to
date at aboutA$5 billion ($3.4 billion), higher than the 2009
bushfires inVictoria but smaller than the Queensland floods in
2010/11. Itforecast a hit of 0.2% to 0.5% on gross domestic product.
* Australia's alpine resorts have dusted off wintersnowmaking
machines to blast ice-cold water onto dry ski slopes. * The
Insurance Council of Australia increased to more thanA$900 million
its estimate of damage claims from the fires, andthey are expected
to jump further. * Health officials in New South Wales urged
extraprecautions to avoid heat-related illnesses. * Australia's
wildfires have dwarfed other recentcatastrophic blazes, with its
burnt terrain more than twice theextent of that ravaged by 2019
fires in Brazil, California andIndonesia combined. * Prime Minister
Scott Morrison has pledged A$2 billion($1.4 billion) to a newly
created National Bushfire RecoveryAgency. * About 100 firefighters
from the United States and Canadaare helping, with another 140
expected in coming weeks. * The fires have emitted 400 megatonnes of
carbon dioxideand produced harmful pollutants, the European Union's
Copernicusmonitoring program said. * Smoke has drifted across the
Pacific, affecting cities inSouth America, and may have reached the
Antarctic, the U.N.'sWorld Meteorological Organization said.
(Reporting by John Mair and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall,
Clarence Fernandez & Shri Navaratnam)
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