Posts
Western Australia fire declared a national disaster
- Emergency alert still in place for area in state’s south-west
- Communities will receive hardship grants and discounted loans to rebuild
6
February, 2015
A
large bushfire that has burned more than 80,0000 hectares of forest
and private land in Western Australia’s south west has been
declared a national disaster.
The
fire near Northcliffe 350km south of Perth has
been burning for seven days and
forced the evacuation of the town on Tuesday.
On
Friday, the state’s premier, Colin Barnett, told a community
meeting in Pemberton, about 30km north of Northcliffe, that the fire
had been declared a natural disaster, meaning the area would be
eligible for state and federal assistance.
The
assistance will include personal hardship grants, financial
assistance to local government, and interest rate subsidies for small
businesses and primary producers who have been directly impacted by
the fire.
Rescue workers take a break from firefighting. Photograph: AAP
About
40 people spent Thursday night in the Pemberton evacuation centre
after being asked to leave Northcliffe.
The ABC
reported that
incident controller Roger Armstrong told the meeting that people
could be allowed to return to their homes in Northcliffe “sometime
in the next 24 to 36 hours”.
“We
have to make sure all the access, power infrastructure and so on is
safe before we let you in,” Armstrong said.
Firefighters
took advantage of cooler conditions and light rainfall on Friday
morning to strengthen containment lines around the fire’s 270km
perimeter.
Emergency workers discuss how to tackle the 80,000 hectare blaze. Photograph: AAP
Russell
Jones, media liaison officer with the Department of Fire and
Emergency Services, said firefighters were particularly concerned
about two patches on the fire’s northern flank and one on the
eastern flank on Friday morning, but were unable to back-burn because
of the rain.
t
Jones
said firefighters were hopeful of “good news from local weather”
on Saturday and Sunday, despite forecast temperatures of up to 40C on
Sunday.
But
he said the hot and humid conditions would add to firefighter
fatigue. About 130 Victorian firefighters arrived to relieve West
Australian volunteers on Thursday, after some local volunteers pulled
30-hour shifts. More firefighters from New South Wales are expected
to arrive on Saturday.
The
fire department declared a total fire ban across all southern and
central areas of Western
Australia on
Friday, citing “strain on firefighting reяources”.
Jones
said about 200 firefighters and 60 support staff were working on the
fire on Friday, but only 100 were on the front line. Firefighters are
camping in a tent city built by Australian defence force troops in
Manjimup.
The
fire has destroyed two houses and five sheds, and caused a number of
roads to buckle.
Perth
was blanketed by smoke from a
second large fire at
Boddington, about 130km south of the city, on Friday.
Smoke
from the 50,000ha fire was reported as far north as Geraldton, 534km
away.
The
fire has destroyed the historic Long Gully Bridge on the 1,000km-long
Bibbulmun Track at Dwellingup, as well as a house and several sheds.
The
128m-long trestle bridge was built by WA Government Railways in 1949.
In recent years it has been used by walkers crossing the Murray river
on the Bibbulmun track, which runs from Albany to the Perth Hills.
2 days ago
The
fire has destroyed the historic Long Gully Bridge on the 1,000km-long
Bibbulmun Track at Dwellingup
In New Zealand, after a hot January it looks (and feels) like a cooler February (normally the hottest month) while the extremely dry conditions continue
Marlborough forest fire: Winds expected to highlight hotspots
A helicopter involved in fighting the forest fire in Marlborough has
crashed into the Wairau River.
7
February, 2015
Fire
authorities say about half of the fire's 16 km perimeter is now under
control, but several evacuation routes have been organised, including
forestry tracks in case the fire spreads further.
One
hundred fire fighters and five helicopters are battling the blaze,
which began just before midnight Wednesday on private forestry land.
National
Rural Fire Authority incident controller Rob Hands said much of the
work now was with heavy machinery and crews on the ground as
containment lines were placed around the fire.
This
morning the weather was fairly calm but higher winds and increased
temperatures were forecast.
Hands
said the wind would bring out any hotspots which would give the crews
an indication of where the fire was still at its most dangerous.
Northbank
Road and Lamberts Rd both were likely to remain closed for the next
few days. NZTA's maintenance contractor would be inspecting the
Northbank Road today and carrying out any essential repairs.
Residents
using the road were warned of the danger posed by overhanging trees
which have been burnt out at their base. They would be removed as
soon as possible.
Key
messages from fire services:
Any
inquiries from people with welfare issues should contact the
Marlborough District Council (24 hours) phone 520 7400.
Property
owners should exercise their own judgement if they are worried about
the safety of their property or stock.
Northbank
and Lamberts Road are expected to remain closed for the coming days.
Access for residents only.
While
State Highway 6 remains open at present, please be aware that in a
fire the situation can change quickly. Use extreme caution if driving
in the area and observe the speed restrictions.
Farmers advised to plan feed carefully
A
dairy organisation has urged farmers in dry parts of the country to
carefully consider their feed planning decisions as a feed shortage
could be a potential risk.
Photo: RNZ
/ Ian Telfer
5
January, 2015
DairyNZ
said some farmers were facing increasingly severe situations, and
were reaching the point where they had to make decisions on feed
planning, stock numbers and milking frequency.
General
manager of extention Craig McBeth said feed supply was strong at the
moment, but if the dry weather continued, it would be used quickly.
"There
are good levels of feed generally on hand on farms throughout the
country but not every farmer will be in the same situation. There is
also other feed available in terms of concentrated feed such as
wheat, grains, barley and palm kernel coming into the country,"
he said.
"The
challenge we have is the dry is quite extensive and as it stays dry
for longer across large parts of the country then the supply of feed
will rapidly diminish and the demand will be increasing, so it is a
potential risk that the industry could be facing but at the moment
things are looking relatively positive."
Mr
McBeth said farmers needed to consider that drying off all their cows
too soon was an expensive decision.
He
said some farmers moved to milking once a day or every two days to
manage stock feed supply, but each situation would be different.
"Each
business has its own circumstances and the farmers need to understand
their individual circumstances, come up with a plan that's going to
be reflective of where their business is likely to head in terms of
supply of feed, and the cows that they've got on hand that need
feeding, and respond accordingly," he said.
"That
will mean planning their feed supplies and also communicating with
their bankers around their financial requirements to ensure that they
can make good management decisions, which not only respond to their
circumstances today but what they need to be planning for and
focusing on in the months ahead."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.