Australian firefighters battle fatal bush fire, homes lost

SYDNEY - Firefighters are struggling to tame

a five-day-old bush fire

that has killed one person and consumed 32 homes in Australia’s eastern state of Queensland, officials said on Friday.

Bolts of so-called dry lightning – produced by thunderstorms with little rain – are complicating the task by setting off a string of fires in the state’s dry bushland, the fire service said.

Fire crews were battling

about 20 bush fires across the state,

said Mr Peter Hollier, acting assistant commissioner of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

One of the most intense – near Tara in the agricultural Western Downs region – had burned through more than 20,000ha since it erupted at the start of the week, he told public broadcaster ABC.

The Tara fire had incinerated 32 homes so far, with that number likely to climb as firefighters gained access to scorched areas of bushland, Mr Hollier added.

About 250 people who had fled their homes spent Thursday night in council evacuation centres, officials said.

The remains of one unidentified person – believed to belong to a missing man – were found in Tara on Tuesday, Queensland police said.

Dry lightning had struck the state over the past two nights, Mr Hollier said.

“Out of that dry lightning, we’re getting new ignitions, new fires,” he said, with firefighters racing to douse the outbreaks as temperatures eased after hitting 42 deg C midweek.

Queensland firefighters had been faced with about 400 bush fires so far this week, Mr Hollier said.

In the neighbouring state of New South Wales, firefighters reported about 58 fires were burning out of control.

Australia is facing its most intense bush fire season since 2019 to 2020, when a series of infernos raged across the eastern seaboard, razing swathes of forest, killing millions of animals and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

In September, the national weather bureau confirmed that an El Nino weather pattern was under way, bringing soaring temperatures that risked a severe wildfire season and drought.

The El Nino phenomenon

– which warms waters in the southern Pacific and stokes hotter weather beyond – is likely to contribute to

2023 becoming the hottest year on record.

Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as bush fires, floods and cyclones. AFP