Troops to fight the flames
AUSTRALIA’S prime minister called up about 3000 military reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated yesterday in at least three states, with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures forecast to bring flames to populated areas, including the suburbs of Sydney.
Scott Morrison said 23 bushfire deaths had been confirmed so far this summer, including two yesterday in a blaze on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia.
‘‘We are facing another extremely difficult next 24 hours. We have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level,’’ Morrison said.
He also confirmed that his scheduled visits to India and Japan later this month had been postponed. Morrison came under fire for taking a family holiday in Hawaii as the wildfire crisis unfolded last month.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said it was the first time that reservists had been called out in this way in living memory, ‘‘and, in fact, I believe for the first time in our nation’s history’’.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian called on people in areas threatened by the fires to leave while they still could.
‘‘All of the major road networks are still open, but we can’t guarantee that beyond the next few hours. So there are still windows for people to get out.’’
The deadly fire on Kangaroo Island broke containment lines on Friday, and was described as ‘‘virtually unstoppable’’ as it destroyed buildings and burned through more than 14,000 hectares of Flinders Chase National Park.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) deputy commissioner Rob Rogers warned that the fires could move ‘‘frighteningly quick’’, and that embers carried by the wind had the potential to spark new fires or enlarge existing blazes.
RFS commissioner Shane
Fizsimmons said the 264,000ha Green Wattle Creek fire in a national park west of Sydney had the potential to spread into the city’s western suburbs.
He said fire crews had been doing ‘‘extraordinary work’’ by setting controlled burns and using aircraft and machinery to try to keep the flames at bay.
Temperatures in parts of the state are expected to soar to the mid-40s Celsius amid strong winds and low humidity and it was 48.9C in Penrith yesterday, making the western Sydney suburb one of the hottest places on Earth.
But Fizsimmons said the worst of the weather was yet to eventuate.
Some large fires were