Published 02:36 IST, November 13th 2019
Neighbourhoods turn pink as aircraft combats bushfires in Australia
In order to control the raging bushfires in Australia, New South Wales Rural Fire Service Department used an aircraft to drop fire retardants on November 12.
In order to control the raging bushfires in Australia, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service Department used an aircraft to drop fire retardants on November 12. The blazes in Australia have spread across the east coast on November 12 destroying even more homes and covering Sydney in smoke. The television footage showed some of the substance overshooting the blaze with bright pink colour — colouring houses as well as vehicles in pink. The officials also said that a large number of schools will again be closed on November 13 due to the fires.
Australians, evacuate
Australian authorities have already urged the residents to evacuate the high-risk areas affected by ‘catastrophic’ bushfires in the eastern coast of the country. Fires across New South Wales and Queensland have already killed three people and more than 150 homes got destroyed over the weekend. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian reportedly asked everyone to be on alert and prepare for the worst. As Bureau of Meteorology predicted severe fire danger due to hot, dry, fresh and gusty west to northwesterly winds, Berejiklian said, “The catastrophic weather conditions mean that things can change very quickly.”
Worse than the original forecast
The Fire Service Department had said that Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter and Illawarra Shoalhaven areas are under catastrophic fire danger due to worsening weather conditions. It is expected that the fire danger will be worse than the original forecast and that’s why the fire level has been changed to 'catastrophic', which is the highest level of bush fire danger. Lives and homes will be at risk during catastrophic fire conditions as homes are not designed to withstand such conditions, said the Rural Fire Service in a statement.
Updated 03:12 IST, November 13th 2019