Wildfires rage across Australia amid searing heat:
COOMA, Australia (AP) — Firefighters battled scores of wildfires Tuesday in southeastern Australia as authorities evacuated national parks and warned that hot, dry and windy conditions were combining to raise the threat to its highest alert level.Temperatures soared to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas.
No deaths have been reported, although officials in Tasmania were still trying to find about 100 people who have been missing since last week when a fire tore through the small town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, destroying around 90 homes. On Tuesday, police found no bodies during preliminary checks of the ruined houses.
“You don’t get conditions worse than this,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said. “We are at the catastrophic level and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option.”
(John Grosvenor/Reuters; Rod McGuirk/AP;Chris Kidd/AP)
As many in the dryest parts of the U.S. can relate to, wildfires are incredibly treacherous and pervasively troublesome — be it direct fire risk to property, human life, or even just the heavy, smoky air that spreads over the landscape. Our thoughts are with everyone afflicted by these blazes.
32,000 flee Colorado Springs as wildfires worsen. Gov. John Hickenlooper said “It was like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine.”
Photo via @scottseibold
Damn, That looks like a volcanic eruption, not a wildfire.
Why is it that beauty and destruction go so uncomfortably hand-in-hand at times? This looks like an epic Photoshop job, not something affecting thousands of people’s lives. By the way, this blaze doubled in size overnight, to over 24 square miles.
Is this the guy? Last night, the LAPD released this image of a person of interest in this weekend’s widespread arson spree, which was the result of over three dozen separate blazes — some of which damaged significant amounts of property. This morning, the police say they have a person of interest in custody, presumably the guy in this photo. However, officials say “it is too early to speculate if this person is responsible for the spree of arson fires.” However, sources say that fire-starting materials were found in the man’s van, meaning he potentially had the ability to start a number of fires if he wanted to. source
» Cars uses as incendiary devices: The damage caused by these fires, many of which were started by unlocked cars and allowed to blaze out of control, sometimes spreading to nearby buildings — in one case a home where Jim Morrison once lived. ”Auto fires, as soon as they get going, they get really hot, really fast,” Los Angeles Assistant Chief Patrick Butler said. “They essentially give off their own combustibles.” Officials are asking neighbors to keep their eye out and to offer up any security footage near the scenes of the arson attacks.
The ground is so dry, because of the drought, that one welding spark or a cigarette tossed could easily ignite a fire.Jesse Moore, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, Texas • Commenting on how easy it is to start wildfire. Texas is seeing one of the worst fire seasons on record, including the devastating fires earlier this year in April. The fires started on Tuesday; as of Wednesday night, the wildfires have damaged 39 homes and buildings over 6,200 acres of land. These wildfires are also threatening cities in Oklahoma. Authorities have asked local residents to evacuate, so stay safe, guys. source (via • follow)
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