Australia fires Dreaded bushfire season turns deadly
This has been Australia’s deadliest bushfire season since the so-called “Black Summer.”
Queensland officials confirmed two deaths in major blazes near Tara, as more than 100 fires raged across the country on Thursday.
Last week, two people died fighting fires in New South Wales (NSW).
This bushfire season is expected to be extremely dangerous due to a cocktail of conditions that have been warning authorities for months.
About 350 people have been evacuated from the Tara region, where an out-of-control fire has destroyed 16 homes and burned more than 11,000 hectares of land.
A man died on Tuesday night trying to protect his property, and a woman died on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest while preparing to evacuate.
Several new fires broke out in the same region overnight as a result of dry lightning storms. There are many under control, but one has triggered an emergency warning.
Conditions are likely to worsen again on Thursday, as temperatures and wind speeds are forecast to rise.
Peter Hollier, acting assistant commissioner with the Rural Fire Service, said, “[Today] will be another challenging day for us as we enter areas of extreme fire danger.”
Last week, a veteran volunteer firefighter died while on duty in the north of NSW, and another man died while protecting his property on the mid-north coast. According to authorities, three large fires in that area were deliberately started earlier this week.