Wildfires blaze in three Australian states

AFP Asian Edition | 2009-10-18 09:00:14

<div><p>Wildfires were burning in three Australian states Sunday, forcing the temporary evacuation of people from about 100 homes threatened by one blaze in the northeast.</p><p>Firefighters in the northeast faced strong winds fanning the erratic fire near Mount Archer National Park on the outskirts of Rockhampton in central Queensland.</p><p>But the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service said the threat from the fire, which destroyed one unoccupied house overnight, had eased.</p><p>"Residents who chose to relocate on the advice of authorities are now able to return to their homes," the service said in a statement, after about 100 homes were initially deemed at high risk.</p><p>"While the immediate threat to residential areas has passed for now, isolated pockets of unburnt land remain and the fire will continue to burn."</p><p>In New South Wales, firefighters were battling several blazes on the east coast and in the state's north. But officials were hopeful that favourable winds would lessen the danger.</p><p>A large blaze in an inaccessible area near Coaldale continued to burn.</p><p>On Friday, one firefighter collapsed and died after helping put out a grass fire on the New South Wales coast.</p><p>Across the country in Western Australia state, a bushfire was burning near the northern resort town of Broome but had been contained.</p><p>The fire, which has burned through about 60,000 hectares (148,200 acres) of land, currently poses no threat to lives or property.</p><p>The fires come at the start of Australia's warmer months, during which bushfires flare in many areas of the country, aided by extremely hot and dry conditions.</p><p>In February, bushfires killed 173 people in the southeastern state of Victoria, eradicating entire towns and destroying thousands of homes in a firestorm known as Black Saturday.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=61380851&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>


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