71 homes destroyed as Australia bushfire rages near locked-down Perth

At least 71 homes have been destroyed in a bushfire raging out of control near Australia’s fourth-biggest city Perth, authorities said Wednesday, as they told residents to ignore a coronavirus lockdown and leave threatened areas.

The blaze has torn through swathes of land in the Perth Hills and was moving towards more densely populated areas.

Six firefighters received minor injuries — including one who officials said suffered burns and continued working to extinguish the blaze — but no deaths or serious injuries have been reported so far.

“To the people who have lost their homes, it’s just devastating for them. Our thoughts go out to them,” Western Australian fire commissioner Darren Klemm said.

Several emergency warnings were issued, with conditions set to worsen later Wednesday and strong gusting winds expected to fan the flames.

The blaze hit a population that had just been forced into a snap lockdown after a coronavirus case was detected. About two million people in and around Perth fell under the stay-at-home orders imposed on Sunday.

“This is a situation the likes of which we have never seen before,” said Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan.

“A full lockdown and raging bushfires. It is frighting and it will test us all.”

No new virus cases have been detected since the lockdown began, but the number of homes lost is still expected to rise slightly.

As the fire front edged nearer to more populated areas, Klemm called on locals to act swiftly to escape the potentially deadly blaze despite the coronavirus restrictions.

“What we don’t want is indecision from people about whether they should evacuate or not when we require them to evacuate,” he said.

“So that evacuation overrides any quarantining requirements that people may have.”…..read more

 

Source: France

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