Disasters & Accidents

Bushfire razes homes, vehicles in Western Australia

Sydney, Australia, Nov 24 (EFE).- A large bushfire near the southwestern Australian city of Perth spread rapidly Thursday, razing land, homes and vehicles as firefighters urged residents of surrounding areas to act quickly “to survive.”

“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and home,” the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) of Western Australia state warned.

It urged residents to leave their houses if it was safe to do so, or stay at home and prepare if it was not.

This main bushfire, which started Thursday morning in the rural area of Parkerville, about 34 kilometers east of Perth, was fanned by winds and razed homes and vehicles as well as hectares of land, according to images captured by Channel 7’s helicopter and photographs published by the public broadcaster ABC, although the exact extent of the damage is for now unknown.

“Fire behaviour is being described as extreme,” DFES duty assistant commissioner Rick Curtis told ABC, adding that the main fire was moving at a speed of more than a kilometer per hour.

The Parkerville fire was later listed as “contained,” shortly before 3 pm, according to the DFES, and is one of dozens of fires burning in Western Australia, where several ‘Watch and Act’ alerts are in effect.

In the coming days, temperatures will range between 30 and 45 degrees in Western Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology said Thursday, warning that strong winds and dry conditions could fuel fires in this vast region of the country.

Last month, bushfires in other areas north of Perth, the fourth most populous city in the Oceanian nation, razed about 20 homes and damaged around 100 power poles.

Australia, where the bushfire season normally begins in November, will face drier than usual weather this year due to El Niño which, aggravated by global warming, could cause further disasters.

However, throughout October there were already large and destructive bushfires in the eastern states of New South Wales and Queensland, which claimed the lives of at least two people.

Australia’s last two fire seasons have been quiet compared to the catastrophic Black Summer of 2019-2020, when hundreds of fires destroyed an area the size of Turkey and left 33 dead. EFE

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