CANBERRA, Australia: Large parts of Australia on Saturday experienced oppressive heat wave conditions, leading the national weather forecaster to issue bushfire warnings across multiple states.
In New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, over 50 fires were actively burning, prompting a comprehensive fire ban in various areas, including Sydney, as reported by the state’s rural fire service.
Through the social media platform X, the agency conveyed that over 700 firefighters and incident management personnel were deployed statewide to combat blazes amid widespread high and extreme fire danger. Heatwave alerts and fire warnings were also declared in parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Meanwhile, South Australia anticipated heatwave conditions, although no official fire warning was issued, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
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The soaring temperatures heightened the risk of bushfires during an already precarious fire season, coinciding with an El Niño weather event associated with extreme phenomena such as wildfires, cyclones, and droughts. In the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit) was forecasted, exceeding the average December maximum by more than five degrees.
Authorities have warned about a heightened risk of bushfires this Australian summer, following two relatively calm seasons compared to the devastating “Black Summer” fires of 2019-2020, which ravaged an area equivalent to the size of Turkey and claimed 33 lives. Meanwhile, in Queensland, the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper, which recently swept through the state’s northeast, is expected to bring additional heavy rain and potential flooding in areas near the tourist town of Cairns.
Bureau of Meteorology spokesman Angus Hines noted, “More wet weather is on the cards,” in an update regarding the forecast.
