Firefighters merge blazes to reduce fire threat in Australia

Fire fighters battling wildfires in Australia said Tuesday they'd managed to merge two blazes in New South Wales, reducing the chance of a more unpredictable fire erupting.

There had been fears that three of the fires near the Blue Mountains west of Sydney would join to create a massive, erratic wall of fire that would be difficult to control.

So fire fighters struck first, combining two of the fires into one that is easier to manage and contain.
Despite the progress the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, warned the weather is likely to take a turn for the worse on Wednesday.

"The forecast and scenario for tomorrow (Wednesday) is about as bad as it gets" he said during a news conference in Sydney.

He also urged residents to be prepared and not leave the decision on whether to evacuate their homes until the last minute.

"You need to be making your decisions early and you need to make decisions decisively and act on them. Procrastination is not going to be the sort of things that will of benefit to you tomorrow," Fitzsimmons said.

The fires have killed one man, destroyed 208 homes and damaged another 122 in New South Wales state since last week, the Rural Fire Service said.

The number of fires burning dropped from more than 100 last week to 60 on Tuesday, with 15 still out of control, according to a Fire Service spokesman.

Fires that had previously been ranked the highest danger were all downgraded by the fire service.

This year's unusually dry winter and hotter than average spring have led to perfect fire conditions.

In February 2009, wildfires killed 173 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes in Victoria state.


REUTERS