Bushfire danger period in place across Australia’s most populated state
Sydney: The bushfire danger period is now in place across the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), after the remaining nine local government areas on the southern border entered the statutory phase on Wednesday.
According to the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS), the period normally runs from October 1 to March 31, during which residents are required to obtain a fire permit if they plan to conduct burning activities on their properties, reports Xinhua news agency.
After weeks of unseasonable heatwave, this year saw the official start of the 2023-24 bushfire season fall on October 1.
But the NSW RFS reported that 32 local government areas across the state had already been in the bushfire danger period for at least a month from September 1, including 11 entering earlier than usual due to warm and dry conditions.
As of Wednesday, there are 65 fires burning around NSW, with 12 of those burning out of control.
A large bushfire in the Tenterfield local government area has grown to 6,349 hectares in size, threatening homes and properties not only in the NSW’s Jennings area but also in the Wallangarra township of Queensland.
Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation earlier in the day, NSW RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers flagged Tenterfield as an area of main concern, since it was “literally surrounded by fires.”
“It was not only individual fires. But there were a number of fires that joined together as well,” said the commissioner.
Despite homes destroyed by the flame, Rogers revealed that the fire authority hadn’t received any reports of serious injury or loss of life.