Aus issues 'catastrophic' alerts

2009-11-21 09:28

Sydney - "Catastrophic" alerts have been issued in Australia after record-breaking temperatures and wild lightning storms sparked more than 100 fires across the country, officials said on Saturday.

The unseasonably hot and dry weather combined with strong winds have led to blazes breaking out in the country's south eastern states.

In New South Wales (NSW) a total fire ban - preventing people from doing such things as burning rubbish or having barbecues - was issued, while the Blue Mountains National Park was closed on Saturday.

And in Tasmania, Australia's southernmost island state, three homes were razed on Friday at Dolphin Sands, a beachside town.

More than 60 fresh blazes were sparked by the lightning storms, which mostly hit New South Wales, while the states of Victoria South Australia were also affected.

Code Red

"Temperatures have been quite elevated so the fuel is very dry, and add those winds and it doesn't take much for fires to run very, very quickly indeed," a NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) spokesperson said.

"Basically it's very hot and very dry ... it will be a trying day. It doesn't look like there will be any reprieve until Sunday."

A Catastrophic, or Code Red, alert urging residents to abandon their homes was issued on Friday in New South Wales.

The warning was issued for the first time ever in South Australia on Tuesday, under a new national system developed in response to February's devastating "Black Saturday" wildfires.

Code Red conditions are considered on a par with those experienced ahead of Black Saturday, Australia's worst disaster of modern times, which killed 173 in Victoria and destroyed more than 2 000 homes.

Residents cannot be forcibly evacuated but are strongly advised to leave their property on a Code Red day, which signifies a high risk of death or injury and destruction.

Australia is facing its worst fire danger in four years, with hotter and windier conditions and earlier than normal outbreaks forecast, according to government analysis published this week.

- AFP