Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




FIRE STORM
Cooler conditions help firefighters in Australia
by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Sept 11, 2013


Cooler weather and lighter winds helped fire crews gain control of bushfires raging across New South Wales Wednesday as formal investigations began into the cause of the blazes.

Sixty-three fires were still burning in Australia's most populous state, 25 of them uncontained and many in western Sydney, but a significant drop in temperatures and easing winds proved a welcome relief after challenging conditions Tuesday.

"Over 1,200 firefighters and 350 trucks battled these blazes yesterday," the NSW Rural Fire Service said on its Facebook page, adding that 1,800 hectares (4,447 acres) were burnt.

"Backburning was undertaken last night as containment lines were built or strengthened. Cooler temperatures and slower winds will help firefighters today," it added.

The fierce infernos that erupted Tuesday, unusually early in the season, left six firefighters injured and destroyed one home, revised down Wednesday from two reported by authorities previously.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said all fire alerts had been scaled back and there were no longer any emergency warnings in force.

"Conditions have moderated considerably but there's still a lot of work to do," he told ABC radio, adding that he could not rule out that the fires had been deliberately lit or were the result of backburning.

"We have a number of fire specialists and police officers that will be out there this morning... and they'll be doing investigations into cause and origin," he said.

The fires followed 27 dry days in Sydney and mark an early start to the bushfire season, just days after the official end of winter.

Australia has just experienced its warmest 12 months on record, with the last summer witnessing an unprecedented heatwave, as well as bushfires and floods, seeing a government commission dub it an "Angry Summer".

"It is a stark reminder that summer is around the corner and when the weather ingredients are right you've got a recipe for fires to start quickly and start easily," said Fitzsimmons.

While fire crews in New South Wales were getting on top of the situation, colleagues in Queensland were on alert with hot and windy conditions through large parts of the state which, like New South Wales, has only had minimal rain over the past six weeks.

"Very dry, low humidity and high winds coming in from the west, so that's a pretty dangerous situation," Peter Varley from the Rural Fire Service said of Queensland.

.


Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








FIRE STORM
Wildfires projected to worsen with climate change
Cambridge, MA (SPX) Sep 10, 2013
Research by environmental scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) brings bad news to the western United States, where firefighters are currently battling dozens of fires in at least 11 states. The Harvard team's study suggests wildfire seasons by 2050 will be about three weeks longer, up to twice as smoky, and will burn a wider area in the western states ... read more


FIRE STORM
New technique to assess cost issues from major flood damage

Australia reiterates tough asylum boat policy

Niger asks for foreign help for flood victims

Olympics: Tokyo 2020 is a bid in the shadow of Fukushima

FIRE STORM
Chinese-built Bolivian satellite tested in space simulator

Indiana Jones meets George Jetson

New computational approaches speed up the exploration of the universe

Advancing graphene for post-silicon computer logic

FIRE STORM
Report reveals missed opportunities to save water and energy

Massive pumping of groundwater for cities said raising arsenic risks

Rising reuse of wastewater in forecast but world lacks data

Scientist say just a few Asian carp may be big trouble for Great Lakes

FIRE STORM
New study points finger at climate in mammoth's demise

Penn Study Finds Earlier Peak for Spain's Glaciers

East Antarctic Ice Sheet could be more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought

On warming Antarctic Peninsula, moss and microbes reveal unprecedented ecological change

FIRE STORM
Indonesian farmers take legal action against president over haze

Overgrazing turning parts of Mongolian Steppe into desert

Certification of aquaculture critical to sustainable seafood production

A genetic treasure hunting in sorghum may benefit crop improvement

FIRE STORM
Tropical Storm Gabrielle batters Bermuda: forecasters

New model of Earth's interior reveals clues to hotspot volcanoes

Humberto becomes season's first east Atlantic hurricane

Scientists confirm existence of largest single volcano on earth

FIRE STORM
Nigerian troops kill 10 insurgents after air strike: army

West pressed hard for end to Congo war

Guinea-Bissau rules out amnesty for coup leaders

Sudan bombs S. Sudan buffer zone position, kills 2: Juba

FIRE STORM
Researchers discover rare fossil ape cranium in China

Wide range of differences, mostly unseen, among humans

Long-disappeared rivers may have helped human migrations out of Africa

New data reveals that the average height of European males has grown by 11cm in just over a century




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement