Firefighters Battle Australia Blazes as Weather to Worsen
By Michael Sin - Oct 22, 2013
Emergency crews in Australia’s most-populous state are battling to contain wildfires raging through bushland west of Sydney before weather conditions worsen.
Firefighters bulldozed containment lines through the Blue Mountains region and used helicopters to help backburn tracts of forest, New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters today.
More than 2,000 emergency personnel are tackling about 60 blazes across the state, including 13 that are uncontained, Fitzsimmons said. Authorities urged residents of some townships in the Blue Mountains, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Sydney, to leave their homes or face being isolated without power for several days if the fire front reaches them.
All schools in the region will be closed tomorrow, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting temperatures will rise and winds will reach 55 kilometers per hour.
State Premier Barry O’Farrell declared an emergency at the weekend, giving police and firefighters the power to forcibly evacuate people, tear down threatened buildings and cut off power and gas supplies.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-21/firefighters-battle-to-contain-australia-blazes-in-weather-lull.html
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