Sydney - An Australian navy ship arrived at the coastal town of
Mallacoota in Victoria on Thursday, which has been cut off since New
Years Eve, to rescue thousands of people trapped by fires.
The ship, HMAS Choules, is carrying much needed food, water and
medical supplies and could evacuate up to 1000 people at a time, a
defence spokesman said.
Four thousand people have been stranded at the tiny town in the state
of Victoria, some 500 kilometres east of Melbourne, since fleeing
fires on Tuesday and seeking safety on the beach.
The town of around 1,000 residents is a popular holiday spot, which
attracts thousands of visitors in summer.
Victoria's Country Fire Association Chief Officer Steve Warrington
said it will be days, perhaps weeks, before fires die down and roads
are cleared so people can drive out of Mallacoota.
"We have fire that is literally burning right across the road...
we've noticed that trees have come down and blocking roads,"
Warrington told the national broadcaster ABC. "It is not safe to
drive on those roads."
With food, fresh water and fuel running out in Mallacoota, Warrington
said they will have to prioritize who stays and who is evacuated on
the ship.
Earlier on Thursday, fire authorities in both Victoria and the state
of New South Wales told tourists and all non-residents to get out of
fire zones as an extreme heatwave is expected to hit and worsen
bushfire threats over the weekend.
The Rural Fire Service declared a "tourist leave zone," stretching
240 kilometres south of the holiday resort town of Batemans Bay in
New South Wales down to the Victorian border.
Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers told reporters Thursday morning that
the fire danger was far from over, and that conditions were expected
to worsen on Saturday when another heatwave sends temperatures over
40 degrees Celsius.
Long lines of vehicles clogged the roads heading north and west from
the evacuation zone Thursday morning. Many were unable to leave as
petrol stations ran out of fuel or pumps didn't work due to power
outages.
Police escorted petrol tankers Thursday morning to Batemans Bay, but
towns further south were still unable to get enough fuel for all
people to leave, New South Wales Transport Minister Andrew Constance
told the ABC.
A tender from HMAS Choules motors through smoke haze off the coast of Mallacoota, Australia. The Australian Defence Force is moving naval assets to Mallacoota on a supply mission that would last two weeks and helicopters would also fly in more firefighters since roads were inaccessible due to wildfires. Picture: Australian Defence Force via AP
Food and water was also running low in many of the coastal
communities which have been cut off from the highway since the fires
hit Monday and Tuesday, the Rural Fire Service said.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said a heatwave with strong winds
will roll over South Australia Thursday before reaching south-east
Australia on Saturday.
Rogers said strong westerly winds coming with the heatwave are
expected to cause the megafires in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney,
the capital of New South Wales, to flare up and be blown towards
communities on the edge of the city.
Meanwhile the smoke from the fires blanketed the nation's capital
Canberra on Thursday with some people forced to wear masks even
working inside buildings.
The BOM said the smoke level in Canberra currently makes it the most
polluted major city in the world. On Wednesday, the air quality in
Canberra was 20 times the level deemed hazardous.
Fires have raged across south-eastern Australia since October. More
than 5.36 million hectares across the country has been scorched and
more than 1,400 homes destroyed.
The national death toll has risen to at least 17 people, according to
the Australian Associated Press, with dozens still missing.