Australia: thousands of firefighters mobilized, fires are approaching Sydney

Thousands of firefighters were deployed in eastern Australia on Tuesday, November 12, to deal with fires that are expected to intensify due to a combination of factors: high winds, hot temperatures and dry vegetation. .

According to experts, the combination of these three elements, very favorable to bush fires, is the worst ever recorded. Since Friday, the fires have killed three people, destroyed more than 150 homes and forced thousands to flee.

On Tuesday, bushfires were just a few miles from the center of Sydney and firefighters sprayed "retardant", a product to curb the advance of flames, on trees and homes in a suburb. located north of the city.

The skies over Sydney right now #NSWfires pic.twitter.com/ej9YBOHpvX

According to the authorities, two fires broke out in the suburbs of Sydney and only one of them could be controlled. Aerial images have shown flames ravaging a eucalyptus forest in Turramurra, about 15 kilometers north of the city of more than four million people.

"The fire is spreading fast," warned the firefighters of the state of New South Wales (Southeast).

Thousands of firefighters had been preventively deployed in Queensland and New South Wales due to "catastrophic" and "out of the ordinary" conditions.

Authorities invited residents living in a large area around Sydney to shelter, saying they did not have time to flee before the flames arrived.

Many cities are directly threatened

In more than 100 bushfires that ravaged an area from Brisbane to Sydney, eleven of them faced an emergency, while many cities were directly threatened.

Temperatures as high as 40 degrees and winds of 60 km / h were expected Tuesday on the east coast of Australia. Winds that blow from west to east and the intense drought affecting vegetation are likely to spread fires to shoreline populations.

As a precautionary measure, about 600 schools have been closed, as well as many national parks. The police and army provide logistical support to the firefighters, who have also received air support for about 100 aircraft.

In the town of Hillville, north of Sydney, a fire ravaged an area of ​​nearly 25,000 football fields.

"The lights are everywhere"

In the small town of Taree, also north of Sydney, dozens of people have taken refuge in an exhibition park.

Caroline Watson, 59, arrived Monday night with her husband and their dog. "The fires are absolutely everywhere," she told AFP. "They did not ask us to leave, but we thought it would come."

In the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Alan Gardiner, a firefighter from Winmalee, said residents were "terrified and exhausted".

The city still bears the stigma of the 2013 fire that destroyed 200 homes. The population is aware of the importance of deciding in time to leave, due to the lack of roads in this mountainous area.

"If there is a fire, it will be catastrophic," says Alan Gardiner.

Julie Jones, a resident, nearly lost her house earlier this week. "I'm staying here, I will not give up now," she told AFP. "It has always been the worst place for bush fires, but now the whole east coast is on fire, I think it's related to climate change."

Such fires occur every year on the huge island-continent during the spring and summer in Australia. This year, the fire season was particularly early and violent and could be one of the worst known in the country.

In New South Wales, one million hectares have already burned, already three times more than last year.

With AFP