Australian bushfires

Australian fire threat intensifies

Emergency warnings have been issued for Blue Mountains residents as bushfires intensify in the area.

Stuff,

18 October, 2013

Properties are under threat in the communities of Dargan and Bell, the NSW Rural Fire Service said. Residents in these areas have been told to seek shelter and protect themselves from the heat of the fire.

The out-of-control fire also threatens the townships of Berambing and Bilpin. It was too late to leave these areas, the RFS said. Residents have been told to seek shelter and avoid driving.

"There's about 20 properties in the community of Bell which are under threat at the moment," said an RFS spokesman.

Evacuation centres are open at the Lithgow Workers Club and Springwood Sports Centre.

As the Blue Mountains bushfire was upgraded to emergency status, the Department of Defence was forced to concede on Saturday that it might have been responsible for starting the blaze. Defence has confirmed it is exploring the circumstances of the State Mine Fire near Lithgow, which has destroyed more than 30,000 hectares.

The fire started on October 16, the same day Defence personnel held an explosive ordnance training activity at the Marangaroo Training Area. Defence said on Saturday it was investigating whether the two events were "linked".

"The primary concern at this stage is for the safety of the communities in the vicinity of the fire, then the ongoing investigation which will review both the incident and Defence procedures," the statement said. "Our thoughts are with those who have lost property or whose property is threatened by these devastating fires."

Defence said it will work with the NSW Rural Fire Service to investigate both the incident and its own procedures, once the fire is extinguished. Detective Superintendent Ian McNab, Commander of Strike Force Tronto, which investigates arson related incidents, said the fire was not being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters had earlier hoped for respite from the bushfires that have flamed across NSW. Cooler, calmer conditions on Saturday morning delivered what the RFS called a "pause" in the fight against the 83 fires burning across NSW, including 19 uncontained blazes.

But there were fears for what lay ahead, with higher temperatures and increasing winds across western Sydney forecast by Sunday. "We have more than 500km of fire perimeter at the moment," RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said on Saturday morning. "We're by no means out of the woods."

Bushfires have already devastated communities in the Blue Mountains. The RFS said on Saturday that 193 homes had been destroyed and another 109 damaged in the Springwood and Winmalee areas.

October 17, 2013, will go down as one of the worst fire days New South Wales has seen in recent years. By 6:30 p.m. local time, 90 wildfires burned, 36 of them out of control and threatening communities near Sydney, Australia. Dry vegetation, high temperatures (above 34° Celsius or 93° Fahrenheit), and erratic winds gusting to 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour combined to create extremely dangerous fire conditions.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image at 2:50 p.m. (3:50 Universal Time) on October 17. Fires are outlined in red; to the east, smoke pollution was a problem in populated coastal communities. The densest plume hangs directly over Sydney, though the brighter white streak is probably a cloud.

The largest fire shown here is the State Mine fire, burning in the Blue Mountains near the Lithgow area. The fire has burned more than 20,000 hectares and damaged an unknown number of properties, according to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. To the southeast is the dangerous Linksview Road fire, burning near the community of Springwood.

Thousands of people have been evacuated because of the fires, and all affected communities have received emergency warnings. Between the State Mine and Linksview Road fires, hundreds of homes may have been destroyed, ABC News reported.

The third large fire in the image is the Hall Road fire. Despite its size, the blaze has caused little damage and is nearly under control. It may be a few days before the other fires are under control. Weather conditions are expected to improve, but the fire danger will remain high.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82189&src=share#.UmHoAnfcc2U.facebook