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| Sunday, 26 January 2003 |
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Australia firefighters brace for new outbreak By William J. Willitts SYDNEY, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Thick smoke enveloped some towns and fire bans were expected to disrupt national holiday celebrations as scorching temperatures in Australia threatened to bring a new outbreak of bushfires on Saturday. Temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas and residents woke to thick smoke in Albury and Wodonga, twin cities straddling the New South Wales-Victoria state border, but no fires directly threatened the towns at 2:30 p.m. (0330 GMT). However, on the southern island state of Tasmania, three fires burning north of the capital, Hobart, had merged overnight into one that was now posing a danger to outlying districts north of the city of 125,000 people, officials said. "It's been a very hot day, and winds of 40 km an hour (24 mph) could pick up from the northwest," said Ken Byrnes, spokesman for the Tasmanian Fire Service. "That would endanger the northern suburbs." Byrnes said 800 firefighters were fighting the fire that had consumed 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of forest since the three original blazes broke out Tuesday along a 30 km (18-mile) front some 20 km (12 miles) north of Hobart. Northeastern parts of Victoria state and southern New South Wales appeared to be in the most danger of new fires sweeping through pine forests. INDOOR OPEN TENNIS Sixty-two fires still burned in unpopulated regions across New South Wales, while volunteers backburned areas near settlements, clearing land of anything flammable to create containment lines. Others hosed down dry bushland. "It's a case of monitoring for the moment," Jane O'Brien, a spokeswoman for the Australian Federal Police, told Reuters. She said containment lines were in place around the national capital of Canberra, "though winds could pick up tomorrow and change things". A week ago, bushfires roared into Canberra, 300 km (180 miles) southwest of Sydney, killing four people and destroying 530 homes. National media reported fires to the northwest of Canberra could breach containment lines in windy conditions. Fires were also reported in Adelaide and southeast Queensland. In Melbourne, the mercury hit 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit), causing the women's final of the Australian Open tennis -- a showdown between sisters Venus and Serena Williams -- to be played under a closed roof. This is the first time in the tournament's history the entire final will be played indoors. Australians are beginning a three-day holiday weekend to mark their national day and some celebrations such as the traditional barbecues may have to be scuttled due to fire bans. "All this makes for a weekend of conditions that can only be described as very grave," New South Wales Premier Bob Carr told ABC Radio. Fireworks over Sydney's harbour for the Australia Day holiday on Monday -- the 215th anniversary of the arrival of the first English convict expedition in Sydney -- were cancelled. Carr told reporters that setting off fireworks at a time when thousands were fighting blazes inland would be "inappropriate". |
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