ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Saturday, November 29, 1997 Vol. 1 - 333
BUSH FIRES IN AUSTRALIA
By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Asia
and Pacific Desk
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (EmergencyNet News) - Strong winds hampered efforts to contain dozens of bush fires Friday, and officials warned that a hot, dry weekend could make the situation in New South Wales much worse. The neighboring states of Victoria and South Australia were also hit with several fires, mostly caused by lightning strikes.
The fires were no immediate threat to property, and there were no reports of injuries, a spokesman for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said. "Most of these fires have been started by lightning strikes, so most of them are remote and the prompt response of fire crews has also helped," spokesman Gilly Paxton said.
Temperatures in the region have reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The brush fires were being fanned by winds gusting up to 100 kilometers per hour (60 mph).
Fires in the Blue Mountains, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Sydney, and Hunter Valley, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) to the northwest were being monitored closely, with aircraft dropping water bombs in a bid to prevent property from being threatened.
Australia's worst bushfire season on record was in 1983, when the "Ash Wednesday" fires killed 76 people and burned more than 2,400 houses in Victoria and South Australia.
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1997. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
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