Daily US Times, New South Wales: Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia authorities urged to Christmas travellers not to come there now as the state is facing severe bushfire crisis.
More than 100 blazes are currently burning in NSW. Firefighters are working hard to tackle the situation, but rising temperature and winds worsen the conditions and threaten to intensify the bushfire crisis.
Thee blaze around Sydney reached emergency level.
In a news conference, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said ‘We are asking everybody not to travel on roads anywhere near the vicinity of an active fire unless you absolutely have to.’
Almost 10 thousand emergency personnel mobiles to NSW to handle the fire crisis, but 40C above temperature, strong wind and low humidity make the firefighters’ job more hard.
NSW Rural Fire Services Inspector Ben Shepherd told the state is in a period of unbelievable drought, and some parts of the state haven’t seen rain for more than 12 months.
‘These fires are likely to continue to spread well past Christmas’, he added.
Two volunteer firefighters died on Thursday while handling large blaze near Sydney. Both of them are fathers of their young children. Two other civilians died in the states of Victoria and South Australia on Friday.
The bushfire crisis has been going on since September. It kills eight people so far and destroyed 700 houses and scorched millions of hectares.
Several main roads and highways in NSW and South Australia are already closed. South Australian residents are asked to monitor the government traffic website for updates.