Muslims volunteered to support firefighters .. Australia under fire and government in alert

A group of Australian Muslims volunteered to support firefighters fighting forest fires in Victoria State, while the government mobilized its various bodies as well as the army to control fires that destroyed vast areas of forests and killed about 24 people, along with the deaths of millions of animals.

The newspaper, "Daily Mail Australia" Monday, that Muslim volunteers, members of the Islamic Association in the Newport suburb of north Sydney, have prepared meals for exhausted firefighters.

"How happy I am to give exhausted firefighters some food or to invite them as a way to show support," the newspaper quoted a volunteer named Luqman al-Kurdi as saying.

He added that his group "felt obligated to help after seeing what was happening in the country," adding "we are seeing forest fires in Australia and we felt we needed to do something."

Devastating fires
Australia has been experiencing forest fires for weeks, killing 24 people, burning more than 6 million hectares of land, destroying more than 2,000 homes, and killing at least 500 million animals among mammals of birds and reptiles, either by burning or asphyxiation.

In response to the serious crisis that has resulted in the destruction of an area of ​​land twice the size of Belgium, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the mobilization of three thousand soldiers from the reserves to help the exhausted firefighters. This is the largest military mobilization in the country's history.

Navy ships and combat helicopters have previously moved to implement the largest evacuation in the country's history since the Second World War, in the Malaccota area of ​​Victoria, where four thousand people were trapped on the beach after the city was surrounded by fire.

The government has pledged to allocate $ 1.4 billion over two years to relief efforts and to compensate for the losses caused by the months-old crisis.

Catastrophic forest fires have turned vast tracts of land into charred foci and destroyed an area the size of Ireland's island, according to official figures, while authorities have warned that the disaster could last for weeks or months.

Firefighters, joined by new teams from the United States and Canada, have benefited from rain and lower temperatures to combat uncontrolled fires before a new rise in temperature, forecasts forecast later this week.

The effects of forest fires are beyond the affected areas, as thick smoke rolls Australia's second largest city, the capital, Canberra.

A number of government departments were closed in Canberra, while their air quality was considered the worst in the world, according to an independent online observatory that monitors air quality.

And classified the "Air Visual" independent site to assess the air quality in cities, Canberra at the forefront of the most polluted countries in the world, ahead of New Delhi and Kabul, due to smoke from fires in the vicinity.

Officials in Australia took advantage of improved weather Monday to reopen roads closed to forest fires and move some people to safe places, although thick smoke disrupted rescue efforts and caused the siege of hundreds of people to continue.

In Los Angeles, Hollywood star Russell Crowe said he returned to home to fight fires, stressing that the disaster was "caused by climate change," and a number of Hollywood stars expressed support for fire victims, while some were quick to collect donations.