Search goes on in blazes-hit Tasmania
Source: Agencies |
January 7, 2013, Monday
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AUSTRALIAN police and defense forces searched burned-out vehicles and homes in the towns worst hit by wildfires on the island of Tasmania, where more than 40 fires still raged yesterday.
The blazes began on Thursday on the state's thinly populated southeastern coast, amid a fierce heatwave and strong winds.
The heat eased over the weekend, slowing the fires, but late yesterday firefighters issued an emergency warning for residents in Taranna, 47 kilometers east of the state capital Hobart, where a fire burning for over three days threatened residents.
The national weather bureau warned that last weekend's relative mildness would be a brief reprieve, with very hot conditions set to return to much of the country early this week.
The fires that continue to burn in Tasmania have cut off communities and hampered efforts to search devastated areas.
In the small town of Dunalley, 56 kilometers east of Hobart, more than 65 homes and a school have been destroyed. Nearby Boomer Bay and Marion Bay have also suffered damage.
Acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation there were about 100 people with whom authorities are still trying to make contact. It may take days to determine whether the fires have killed anyone during what is the peak holiday season on the island.
"We're hoping very much along with everyone else that there won't be (any deaths), but we need to go through the process to confirm that there haven't been," Tilyard told ABC.
Tasmania experienced its peak temperature since records began at 41.8 degrees Celsius on Friday, when much of mainland Australia sweltered in similar conditions and fires burned across several states.
Fire crews from Victoria and South Australia headed to Tasmania yesterday to help fatigued crews there.
The blazes began on Thursday on the state's thinly populated southeastern coast, amid a fierce heatwave and strong winds.
The heat eased over the weekend, slowing the fires, but late yesterday firefighters issued an emergency warning for residents in Taranna, 47 kilometers east of the state capital Hobart, where a fire burning for over three days threatened residents.
The national weather bureau warned that last weekend's relative mildness would be a brief reprieve, with very hot conditions set to return to much of the country early this week.
The fires that continue to burn in Tasmania have cut off communities and hampered efforts to search devastated areas.
In the small town of Dunalley, 56 kilometers east of Hobart, more than 65 homes and a school have been destroyed. Nearby Boomer Bay and Marion Bay have also suffered damage.
Acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation there were about 100 people with whom authorities are still trying to make contact. It may take days to determine whether the fires have killed anyone during what is the peak holiday season on the island.
"We're hoping very much along with everyone else that there won't be (any deaths), but we need to go through the process to confirm that there haven't been," Tilyard told ABC.
Tasmania experienced its peak temperature since records began at 41.8 degrees Celsius on Friday, when much of mainland Australia sweltered in similar conditions and fires burned across several states.
Fire crews from Victoria and South Australia headed to Tasmania yesterday to help fatigued crews there.
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