It has not yet been possible to control forest fires on the east coast of Australia, according to a report by local authorities on Thursday, and the fires have already destroyed 11,000 hectares and there are also deaths.
The most affected settlement is Tara, which is 300 kilometers from Brisbane, the capital of Queensland state, and surrounding areas.A man died there on Wednesday while trying to extinguish a burning house, and on Thursday an elderly woman had a heart attack during the evacuation.Queensland firefighters are battling dozens of different fires, with about a hundred fire nests having been found.
Due to the high temperatures and strong winds, according to the authorities, the situation is not expected to improve in the coming days. In the meteorological forecast, an improvement is expected only by the end of the week.
Fires were also reported in New South Wales, which borders Queensland. The New South Wales Fire Service announced on social media Several fires were started by lightning.
In Australia, where forest fires are common in the period starting in November, due to the El Niño weather phenomenon, it is witnessing more drought than usual.
The continent witnessed the so-called “Black Summer” in 2019 and 2020, and the unusually strong heat wave claimed the lives of 33 people, and devastating fires destroyed about 24 million hectares of land.
