Category Archives: Bushfires

Australia fires live: tourists near NSW and Victoria bushfires told to leave – latest

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At least nine people have died since Christmas Day, and the RFS is urging people to evacuate the New South Wales South Coast before dangerous conditions on the weekend. Follow the live news and latest updates today

Yesterday, residents in the isolated community of Cann River were expressing concern about food shortages and other supply issues. Some told media they felt they were being forgotten.

The town is along the Princes Highway between Orbost and Mallacoota and has been cut off due to the fires.

But Constance adds, “once this (the fires) all goes, please come back”.

Tourism is crucial to communities on the south coast, which rely on the extra business during the holiday period.

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Australia bushfires: PM’s climate stance criticised as thousands flee blazes

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Scott Morrison’s government under pressure as fires feared to have killed 17 people

Navy ships and army aircraft have been dispatched to help fight devastating bushfires on Australia’s south-east coast that are feared to have killed at least 17 people, amid a spiralling debate over the government’s stance on the climate emergency.

Thousands of people have fled apocalyptic scenes, abandoning their homes and huddling on beaches to escape raging columns of flame and smoke that have plunged whole towns into darkness and destroyed more than 4m hectares of land.

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Three more deaths confirmed in Australia bushfires and hundreds of homes destroyed – as it happened

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East Gippsland fires claim homes in Buchan, Sarsfield and Mallacoota, and 176 properties lost on New South Wales south coast. Follow live news and latest updates
• Are you affected by the bushfires?
• How big are the fires burning in eastern Australia? Interactive map

We are ending this blog for today.

While fires continued to burn today they were not as catastrophic as Tuesday. Instead, we learned a lot about the absolute devastation wrought along the NSW south coast and Victoria’s East Gippsland region.

Related: Australia fires: nine dead and hundreds of properties destroyed, with worse to come

Yep - locals on the ground told @abccanberra Drive this evening that about 50 of 60 homes in North Rosedale are gone. About a third of the homes in South Rosedale. Unconfirmed, but solid local sources. One of the prettiest, loveliest places on earth. So very, very horrible. https://t.co/fL5qn0dKFV

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Australia fires live: two dead in Cobargo as NSW and Victoria face bushfires threat – latest updates

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Conditions worsen with more than 4,000 on the beach at Mallacoota in Victoria after a devastating day yesterday and the death of a firefighter in New South Wales. Follow live news and latest updates

The federal government has agreed to supply military vessels to Victoria for evacuations in coastal communities where people are trapped.

I’ve spoken with @ScottMorrisonMP & authorised #ADF to deploy extra assets to the Victorian fires: 3 helicopters & 1 aircraft will fly to East Sale; HMAS Choules & MV Sycamore will sail to East Gippsland. A Joint Task Force has been stood up with Army personnel & Liason Officers

#BREAKING: Naval vessels, military helicopters and fixed wing aircraft are being prepared for bushfire evacuations in Victoria, at the request of the State Government #auspol

“We’ve got fires burning from the Queensland border all the way down to the Victorian border, across the great dividing range,” says Fitzsimmons.

There have ben multiple challenges, he says, noting that today conditions didn’t allow for the flying of some aerial support craft.

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Australia fires: one firefighter killed as bushfires rip through four states

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There are fears that many houses may have been lost on a horrific day in Victoria and Tasmania, with more extreme weather forecast for New Year’s Eve

One firefighter has died and multiple properties are feared lost after terrifying bushfires driven by extreme weather conditions swept across four Australian states on Monday.

The volunteer firefighter from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service died when a truck rolled near Jingellic, about 70km east of Albury, on the border with Victoria. The RFS said two trucks, including the one in which the firefighter died, had been overturned by high winds. Two others suffered burns in the crash.

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Victoria bushfires: thousands told to evacuate vast East Gippsland fire threat zone

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Visitors and residents told to ‘get out of’ an area half the size of Belgium immediately, in the face of historic fire threat day on Monday

Victorian authorities have told thousands of visitors and residents in East Gippsland – an area half the size of Belgium – to leave immediately in the face of a looming bushfire threat.

Emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp issued the order on Sunday ahead of what the Bureau of Meteorology has called one of the “significant fire weather days in Victoria’s history”.

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‘We’re helpless’: thousands of koalas probably dead after wildfires – video

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Up to 30% of koalas on New South Wales's mid-north coast may have been killed and many more may be endangered in South Australia in the country’s ongoing bushfire crisis after experts warned fires are the biggest threat Australian wildlife faces

Nationally, more than 5m hectares have been burned in an unprecedented bushfire season that has also killed nine people

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Coalition minister breaks ranks with government to call for volunteer firefighters to be paid

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Darren Chester says he believes there should be payment for ‘one-off’ events or fire levy

The call to pay volunteer firefighters facing extreme, prolonged events such as the current bushfire emergency is getting louder, with a Morrison government minister breaking ranks to call for changes.

The veterans’ affairs minister, Darren Chester, said he had been talking to his Victorian electorate about a payment model for “one-off” events, floating the idea of a fire levy, with evidence continuing to point to longer and worse bushfire seasons as a new normal.

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Australia’s environment minister says up to 30% of koalas killed in NSW mid-north coast fires

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Sussan Ley’s estimate suggests up to 8,400 koalas may have perished in the bushfires

Australia’s environment minister has said up to 30% of koalas on the New South Wales mid-north coast may have been killed in the country’s ongoing bushfire crisis.

Nationally, more than 5m hectares have been burned in an unprecedented bushfire season that has also killed nine people. Some 3.4m hectares have been burnt in NSW alone.

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Australia fires: rain offers little respite as out-of-control bushfires continue to burn

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Firefighters are bracing for extreme conditions with high temperatures forecast for next few days

Rainfall over parts of eastern Australia during the Christmas break did little to extinguish some of the country’s major bushfires, ahead of worsening conditions and a heatwave due to arrive in the coming days.

About 70 bushfires continue to burn throughout New South Wales, despite modest rainfall in some fire-affected parts of the state, while firefighters continued to battle a large blaze in South Australia on Boxing Day.

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As the long bushfire battle goes on in northern NSW, a brief respite for Christmas lunch

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Two hundred people gather in Wytaliba, where rain has brought relief, but also more concern for the long-term effects of the fires

In the northern New South Wales town of Wytaliba, one of the areas hardest hit by bushfires that have killed nine people, destroyed a thousand homes and burned 5m hectares of Australia in the past three months, a small team has cooked Christmas lunch for 200 people.

Everyone is invited, from the dozens who lost their homes, to the volunteer firefighters, to the Canadian firefighting contingent who have been working to relieve local crews.

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Yes, Australia has always had bushfires: but 2019 is like nothing we’ve seen before

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Record low rainfall has contributed to a continent-scale emergency that has burned through more than 5m hectares and alarmed scientists, doctors and firefighters

As the area burned across Australia this fire season pushes beyond five million hectares, an area larger than many countries, stories of destruction have become depressingly familiar.

At the time of writing, nine people have been killed. Balmoral, in the New South Wales southern highlands, is the latest community affected in a state where up to 1,000 homes have been destroyed. A third of the vineyard area and dozens of homes were razed in the Adelaide Hills. It is too early for a thorough examination of the impact on wildlife, including the many threatened species in the fires’ path.

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‘A difficult year’: Scott Morrison thanks firefighters in Christmas message – video

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Australian prime minister thanks firefighters and volunteers for their work amid drought and the ongoing bushfire crisis in his Christmas message, and pays tribute to two New South Wales rural fire service firefighters who died last week.

In his message, the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, also paid tribute to firefighters, and said that while Christmas was a time to celebrate, it could be a difficult time for some

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Australian bushfires: the story so far in each state

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Bushfires have burned 4m hectares and left nine people dead, and fire authorities say they ‘haven’t seen a season like it’

More than four million hectares of Australia have burned and nine people have died since September in an “unprecedented” start to the summer fire season.

Guardian Australia spoke to fire authorities in every state about what they expect to happen next.

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Home affairs warned Australian government of growing climate disaster risk after May election

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Exclusive: Department’s brief said that ‘coordinated national action’ was needed to ward off increasing disruptions

The government was warned by the Department of Home Affairs after the May election that Australia faced more frequent and severe heatwaves and bushfires, and that livelihoods would be affected without effective action on climate change.

The department’s incoming government brief to the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, warned of “disasters” exacerbated by climate change.

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Australia fires live: NSW and SA count cost of bushfires after Balmoral and Cudlee Creek devastation – latest

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Cudlee Creek fire revealed to have destroyed 86 homes in South Australia while 100 more estimated lost in New South Wales as residents wait to discover extent of devastation from weekend’s fires. Follow the latest news and updates

SA Premier and Governor tour the fireground in Woodside in Adelaide Hills #safires @abcadelaide @CFSAlerts pic.twitter.com/VRfRvWLdny

Many more homes could have been lost in the NSW town of Balmoral on Saturday when the RFS firefighting crew ran out of water.

Guardian Australia’s Helen Davidson reports flames began reaching 200m above the treetops and the town, which is on tank water, simply did not have enough to meet demand.

We were desperately trying to get more water into us, desperately calling for more to come in. A member from another brigade spoke to his boss about getting another truck into us really quick. That company saved a lot of homes.

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Australia fires: NSW devastation laid bare as 72 homes destroyed in SA bushfires

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Australian PM Scott Morrison says government won’t change its climate change policy as New South Wales premier says ‘not much left’ of town of Balmoral

The devastation from Australia’s bushfire crisis became clearer on Sunday, as the South Australian premier said 72 homes had been destroyed and his New South Wales counterpart revealed there was “not much left” of the town of Balmoral, south-west of Sydney.

It is feared the figures for homes lost may get much worse as authorities continue to assess the damage from Saturday, and with dozens of fires still active.

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‘As bad as it gets’: bushfires in Australia create catastrophic conditions – video report

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Catastrophic conditions have been declared as bushfires sweep across parts of New South Wales and South Australia.  The death toll and number of injured firefighters has risen as a severe heatwave continues. Two people were confirmed dead in South Australia on Saturday, homes were destroyed and communities evacuated as the prime minister, Scott Morrison, was due to return to Australia after cutting short a family holiday to Hawaii

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Waiting for a megafire: the battle against Australia’s biggest blaze

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The Gospers Mountain fire has consumed hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and is now threatening towns and lives

The fire is two kilometres away, but the heat is already beginning to warm the faces of those who wait.

The air is eerily still. There is no wind. There are no birds. There is no natural noise, just the distant chatter of helicopters in the sky, flying between water source and flames.

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Australia fires: 23 firefighters injured in South Australia as second person confirmed dead – live

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Emergency fire warnings have been issued for parts of NSW, including Greater Sydney, Victoria and South Australia. Follow for the latest news and updates

And this frightening footage from Adelaide.

As poster Lucky Tran says: “Thousands of expats are now returning home to Australia for the holidays and seeing sights like this from the plane. Incredibly heartbreaking.”

So.... this is what my hometown of Adelaide, Australia is looking like for the holidays...

( https://t.co/SVtoNiQ2mn)#ClimateCrisis pic.twitter.com/zR8TY8z92S

The Gospers Mountain fire covers a very large area, and emergency warnings and conditions will vary in different parts of the area.

The most dangerous area now is from Bilpin to Kurrajong Heights.

This is the potential fire spread map for Gospers Mountain and Green Wattle Creek in NSW today.

Right now, there is an emergency warning for Bilpin to Kurrajong Heightshttps://t.co/oYWX28NJmR pic.twitter.com/bBYznfNqwx

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