Police Rescue Koala From Wye River Bushfire

In Australia, a bushfire on Victoria’s surf coast may keep burning for weeks after claiming more than 100 homes.

Sherryl Smith has been in Wye River full time for the past six years and said locals were “gutted” at how random the destruction was.

The weather is expected to drop 10° Celsius overnight as a cold front arrives, but fresh winds are likely to push the fire front towards Lorne, a popular tourist centre.

The evacuation order for Lorne and Allenvale was downgraded to a “watch and act” alert.

Around midday, police began door-knocking houses and a fire plan which had been planned for several days sprang into action. “So we’ve had to support that in every way”.

The town of Wye River, just over 150 kilometers (93 miles) down the coast from Melbourne, has been hit the worst, with ABC reporting that 85 homes have been lost there.

CFA Wye River brigade captain Ray Moriarty.

The unconscious koala was unconscious and lying on the side of a road when it was found by county fire officials, The Guardian reports.

Craig Lapsley, the state’s emergency services commissioner, said: “This fire doesn’t go away”.

State Premier Daniel Andrews surveyed the area from the air and commended emergency services, noting that there had so far been no loss of life. However, no deaths or injuries were reported.

The fires started after lightning struck a tree on December 19 and spread after being fanned by the breeze.

60 tankers more than 500 fire fighters and 18 aircraft happen to be engaged in fighting with the fires.

“The Otways are the driest we’ve seen them in decades”, he said. Residents were told they could go home after an evacuation recommendation was lifted shortly after 9am on Saturday.

However firefighters feared a bushfire that burned 98 homes in a Victorian coastal town would destroy up to three times as many.

Hot and windy conditions have pushed bushfires out of control in the state of Victoria, in southern Australia.

STRINGER/REUTERS Smoke rises from a fast-moving bushfire near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. But in the nearby settlements of Kennett River and Separation Creek, it is believed that everybody evacuated. “We’re keeping [them] in place because we don’t want people down there”, he said.