Three fires joined together to form a gigantic sea of flames. Rain helps to fight the fires, but it produces new problems.
Burnt to the ground in the Australian state of New South Wales photo: Tracey Nearmy/Reuters
CANBERRA dpa/taz | In Australia have become the worst fears come true: At the borders of the two States of New South Wales and Victoria United on Saturday, as three Bush fire to a “Mega-fire”, with a surface area of 600,000 hectares. This corresponds to about a third of the size of Saxony. In some affected areas, the temperatures had reached on Friday night, 44 degrees. Wind were registered speeds of 90 kilometers per hour.
residents of the city of Wodonga in Victoria had to be brought because of the fires in safety. In New South Wales, more than 3,500 firefighters were in use. There are more than 140 fires blazed on Saturday morning still. However, the weather cooled a bit, in some places, it rained. The weary firefighters hoped to recovery.
Since the beginning of the Bush fire in October burned in the whole of Australia more than ten million acres of Land, which is about the size of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Thousands of homes were destroyed. At least 26 people were killed.
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The fire chief of New South Wales, Shane Fitzsimmons, said, with the fires on Friday several people had been injured. Initial Reports were burnt down, no other homes. He hoped that the cooler temperatures would be in the next week for a respite. “It will probably be the best seven days we have had so far,” said Fitzsimmons.
The government of Victoria wanted to break the disaster state at midnight. Is not the danger anyway. More than 20 fires continue to burn in the southern state. For the Mount Buffalo national Park and its surroundings, there was an emergency warning.
The disaster, the competent Minister, Lisa Neville, referred to the rain on Saturday, “welcome”, but warned against the possible sudden Flooding. “It sounds bizarre in such a fire situation. But it is also exceptionally dangerous for our fire and rescue people,“ she told reporters in Melbourne.
economically, Too, the fires are likely to have consequences, warned the independent members Helen Haines. Victoria as a wine growing region of concern due to the exposure to Smoke. “Smoke stains could destroy whole vintages,” she told the broadcaster ABC. In addition, the tourism suffer. The administrative area Alpine Shire have already made losses in the amount of more than 90 million Australian Dollar (approximately Euro 56 million). Images Nasa show how the smoke in Australia is rising 17 miles into the atmosphere.
The RTL jungle camp, which will be filmed on the East coast of Australia, launched on Friday evening, regardless of the criticism in Germany. The Cologne-based private station responded with a fundraiser for the Red cross in Australia.
