Australian bushfire prompts evacuation order

Sydney, Jan 30 (IANS) Authorities in southeast Australia have ordered communities to evacuate as bushfires in western Melbourne, the capital city of Australia’s state of Victoria, continue to spread.

Victorian emergency services on Thursday morning urged about 100 residents of four small towns near the southwestern edge of the Grampians National Park, about 250 km west of Melbourne, to leave immediately to escape the threat posed by a nearby out-of-control fire, Xinhua news agency reported.

A warning issued by VicEmergency shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time said that there was a significant increase in fire activity overnight that caused a fire burning along the national park’s western edge to spread in multiple directions.

“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous. Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay,” it said.

Residents of three more towns to the east of the fire, which was sparked on Monday by dry lightning, have been told that leaving now is the safest option.

Incident controller Peter Western told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the fire had increased in size to 7,000 hectares overnight despite mild conditions.

He said that it has burnt through some private property at the western edge of the park.

Communities near a second fire in the national park’s north have been told to monitor changing conditions and prepare to evacuate.

He added that crews were working hard to contain the fires before a heatwave that is forecast to last from Saturday until Tuesday.

–IANS

int/rs