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Christmas wildfire destroys over 100 homes in Australia
Posted On Dec 27 2015
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The CFA has confirmed 18 homes have been lost at Separation Creek, and 35 have been lost at Wye River.
Bushfires at Great Ocean Road, a tourist area in Australia, caused more than a hundred houses to burn down on Christmas Day despite the effort of about 500 firefighters and 13 firefighting aircrafts to stop the flames.
Scenes of burnt-out homes, blackened cars, fallen trees and downed power lines greeted residents allowed back into the zone to inspect their properties.
Although an evacuation alert was lifted for the popular tourist town of Lorne and rain overnight had helped the firefighting operation, officials said the situation remained potentially risky with many hotspots.
More than 300 firefighters have spent the night fighting the 2000-hectare Jamieson Track blaze that has claimed at least 53 homes so far and threatened to advance on Lorne.
The blaze in Melbourne, Wye River and Separation Creek in the state of Victoria began Friday after lightning struck the area and spread due to hot weather and winds.
“This hearth doesn’t go away”.
The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s biggest tourist draws with its spectacular scenery and unusual offshore rock formations.
“That will probably be the final number, as we’ve just completed an extensive search”, Country Fire Authority deputy incident controller Mark Gunning said.
Wildfires are common in Australia during the southern hemisphere summer. He also added that those people who lost their home would receive financial aid. “It’s been an exceptionally dry year with the El Nino event, and the worst fire conditions will probably be seen in January and February, and that’s why we’re working really hard to consolidate this fire now”, firefighter Mark Gunning told ABC“.
Traffic was still disrupted in the area on Saturday and parts of the Great Ocean Road remained closed. In 2009, Victoria was victim to “Black Saturday”, a wildfire which killed more than 150 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes in the state.
