This Tuesday, Australian authorities are fighting dozens of forest fires in the southeast of the country, a region affected by an unusual heat wave in the middle of the southern spring.
Some 600 firefighters are fighting around the clock to contain the fires in the town of Briagolong, more than 250 kilometers east of Melbourne, which is currently the biggest concern for the authorities, as well as in the neighboring towns of Gippsland, in the extreme southeast. . Australia.
Strong winds, expected to reach speeds in excess of 100 kilometers per hour throughout the day, caused the Briagolong fire to increase significantly, reaching an area of 170 kilometers.
The fire that advances with the winds threatens to endanger the lives of neighbors and their homes. Authorities have ordered residents in and around Briagolong to shelter in place because “it is too late to travel.”
In the neighboring island state of Tasmania, a fire broke out on Flinders Island and in New South Wales firefighters are battling 82 bushfires, 16 of which are out of control, on a day when temperatures will reach 40 degrees Celsius in some jurisdictions.
New South Wales was the scene of devastating bushfires in the so-called “black summer” of 2019-2020, which killed 33 people.
These fires also burned around 24 million hectares in the east of the country and affected around three billion animals.
Experts confirmed last month that Australia will face rising temperatures and drier than usual weather this year due to El Niño, a natural weather phenomenon caused by currents in the Pacific Ocean that, exacerbated by global warming, could cause devastating fires.
Source: TSF
