Australia’s ordeal by fire is poised return, with Kangaroo Island residents on Wednesday night told to evacuate as a predicted 40-degree day and hot, dry north winds promised to lash the tourist mecca once again.
Like so many others in the close-knit community, sheep farmer Richard Stanton quite simply has nothing left.
In the bushfire that raged across the island last week, he and his family lost three homes and almost all their stock.
Such was the ferocity of the blaze, some of the sheep were completely cremated, reduced to just ash.
“Day by day, it’s getting harder,” he said of the devastating impact.
“Because we’re still out there. We’ve been actively fighting (fires) the whole time.”
As Prime Minister Scott Morrison paid a flying visit to the island, farmer’s wife Madelyn Kelly was monitoring the latest weather bulletins with a mounting sense of dread.
“We’ve still got stuff that can burn,” she said, recalling the hours of aciety and sheer terror as her husband and son fought the flames to a standstill over the weekend.
“Even though it’s gone through the whole farm, there’s still canopy stuff that can burn.”
“Tomorrow’s not good. It’s round two.”
Emergency services have sent backup fire teams to the island and an ADF contingent is in place.
So far, the Kangaroo Island bushfire has burnt through 160,000 hectares, destroyed 56 homes and claiming two lives.
Victoria is a little luckier this time – at least for the moment – with Thursday’s temperatures predicted to go no higher than the low 30s in Melbourne and winds from the south.
Wednesday’s conditions were a welcome greeting when the final shipload of Mallacoota climate refugees dropped anchor in Western Port, marking an end to their nightmare week of fire, smoke, isolation at the end of a tree-blockaded road and the gnawing uncertainty of not knowing what the fires would throw at them next.
Victoria’s respite could also be no better than a temporary respite, as Friday’s forecast has higher temperatures and hot, dry winds once again veering from the parched north.
The lowest projected fire rating for Victoria on Friday covers the south-west of the state, which the Country Fire Authority rates as ‘high’. After that it gets really nasty. with the danger rating in every other part of the state rated either ‘extremely high’ or ‘severe’.
Meanwhile in Western Australia, lives and homes were in danger late on Wednesday night as a bushfire raged northeast of Perth, with an emergency warning issued for the southern parts of Toodyay.
“You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive,” the Department of Fire and Emergency Services warned.
Lives and homes are also were in danger from a fast-moving and uncontrolled bushfire near Eyre Highway in Western Australia’s southeast which breached containment lines on Wednesday afternoon.
Although #TropicalCycloneBlake was downgraded to a #TropicalLow yesterday, it still is continuing to bring strong #winds and heavy #rain to northwestern #WesternAustralia as night falls over the country.
Explore the world: https://t.co/W2odIjs1tF#Australia pic.twitter.com/MaX1lA2ZWQ
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) January 8, 2020
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services is weighing the safety risk of reopening the Eyre Highway, where truckies and tourists have been cauight for the past ten days.
“This is a dynamic situation … these plans are subject to change with variable weather conditions and fire activity currently being experienced as ex Tropical Cyclone Blake moves through the area,” the DFES said.
Some fresh Sentinel-2 imagery captured 11 hours ago of central NSW and Victoria.
This frame shows the Dunns Road, Doubtful Gap Trail, and most of the Adaminaby Complex blazes in false colour; the dark grey is burnt area. pic.twitter.com/I2l70cZqOs
— Nathanael Coyne (@NathanaelB) January 8, 2020
In NSW there was the some good news, but just a bit, as out-of-control fires continued to ravage the Snowy mountains.
As the RFS battled “out of control” blazes around Adaminaby and Goof Good, south coast residents were getting their power restored after what, in some cases, has been four or more days of darkness.
Down the road, the Bureau of Meteorology says genuine hope, predicting higher than average rainfall on the Victoria-NSW border fires.
-with wires
The post ‘It’s round two’: Kangaroo Island braces for the flames’ return appeared first on The New Daily.
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