120 Brush Fires Out of Control in Southeast Australia
Whipped by unrelenting winds and dry weather, the worst brush fires in 50 years burned out of control today across southeastern Australia. Fires ringed Sydney, the country’s largest city.
More than 120 fires, most of them blamed on arson, were ablaze in New South Wales state.
Three people, including two firefighters, have died in the fires, which started shortly before Christmas. Dozens more people have been treated for burns and smoke inhalation.
About 740,000 acres of bush and grassland have been scorched. Weary firefighters, most of them volunteers, have given up attempts to extinguish fires and are concentrating on saving lives and buildings.
Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate homes in several towns as a precaution after meteorologists predicted a fifth day of hot, windy summer weather today.
Temperatures reached 111 degrees Thursday, and winds gusted over 45 m.p.h.
The fires ringing Sydney were threatening scores of houses.
No official estimate of damage has been released.
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