PERTH, Australia (AP) — Fires burning in Australia’s two most populous states caught residents of a coastal village in apocalyptic conditions on Tuesday and are feared to have destroyed many properties and left victims. In the southeastern village of Mallacoota, some 4,000 inhabitants fled to the sea as winds pushed a fire into their homes. The village was engulfed in darkness due to smoke before acquiring a bewildering bright red tone.
There are plans to evacuate trapped people by sea, said Daniel Andrews, Prime Minister of the State Victoria. The worst is feared for four missing persons.” We can’t confirm his whereabouts,” Andrews told reporters. He has already sought help from 70 firefighters from the United States and Canada. The fire intensified on Monday in Victoria and New South Wales after sweltering heat accompanied by intense winds and lightning. A firefighter passed away that day when intense winds overturned his truck. Samuel McPaul, 28, is the third volunteer firefighter in New South Wales to have died in the last two weeks. Your partner was expecting a child. Fires in Australia have ravaged more than 1,000 homes in recent months, and New South Wales has taken the brunt. Shane Fitzsimmons, commissioner of the Rural Fire Service in the state, said a “significant” number of properties in the region have been destroyed, and three missing persons are believed to have died.” We anticipate more difficult news from New South Wales and Victoria today as the assessments of yesterday’s and last night’s terrible fires are carried out,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. Some communities have cancelled their new Year’s artillery fires, but Sydney’s popular display over its famed bay will. The city was granted to be exempt from a total fireworks ban that is in force there and everywhere to prevent further fires. A temperature of 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) is forecast in Sydney on Tuesday, while in the western suburbs of the city it could reach 43 C (109 F). It is also expected that the thick smoke that has obscured the view of the port and the City Opera House will be present. Popular festivities are expected to attract around one million people to Sydney Bay and generate A$130 million ($91 million) for the state’s economy.
