Bushfire forces evacuation of island residents in Australia
Tuesday, 8 December 2020
SYDNEY, Dec 07 (BBC): Firefighters are battling to keep a large bushfire which has come within 700 metres of a small township on an Australian holiday island at bay.
Dozens of residents of Happy Valley were earlier urged to evacuate as the blaze raged east across Fraser Island.
For six weeks, firefighters have been struggling to control the blazes on the island - a popular tourist destination off the coast of Queensland.
However efforts have been thwarted by a continuing heatwave and dry ground.
The bushfire was sparked by an illegal campfire in mid-October and has burnt through over half of the island - about 83,000 hectares.
Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.
It has a population of fewer than 200 permanent residents, some of whom were evacuated weeks ago alongside the tourists.
However, other residents - including many trained to fight bushfires - have stayed behind to defend their properties.
The Fraser Island fires are among the most serious blazes seen in Australia since its "Black Summer" last year.
The 2019-20 bushfire season was by far its largest and most intense on record and was driven by the increasing effects of climate change, scientists said.
Authorities pushed Fraser Island's bushfire warning to emergency level late on Sunday and told residents in Happy Valley, on the island's east coast, to leave immediately as temperatures soared above 30C (86F) on the weekend.
On Monday, about 100 firefighters and more than 25 water-dropping planes were focusing efforts on containing the front racing towards the coast.
Firefighters are dropping massive loads of water and fire suppressant on the blaze, and deliberately burning bush around the town's perimeter to rid the area of any further fuel for the fire.
"At the moment, the fire front is around 700m away from the Happy Valley area, " said Queensland Fire and Emergency Services director Brian Cox on Monday morning.
"Hopefully the backburning operation combined with the air attack plans we have this morning will make a significant difference."