Wildfires Blaze In Three Australian States

SYDNEY : The Australian state of Queensland has declared a state of emergency in the face of wildfires that have destroyed several properties.

Hundreds of residents were forced to flee their homes on Saturday, while about 600 firefighters worked to battle more than 50 blazes in the eastern state.

Fire-fighters in the northeast faced strong winds fanning the erratic fire near Mount Archer National Park on the outskirts of Rockhampton in central Queensland.

But the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service said the threat from the fire, which destroyed one unoccupied house overnight, had eased.

“While the immediate threat to residential areas has passed for now, isolated pockets of unburnt land remain and the fire will continue to burn.”

About 20 wildfires also broke out in the eastern state of New South Wales and others in Western Australia, but no properties were at risk.

A large blaze in an inaccessible area near Coaldale continued to burn.

On Friday, one fire-fighter collapsed and died after helping put out a grass fire on the New South Wales coast.

The fires come at the start of Australia’s warmer months, during which bushfires flare in many areas of the country, aided by extremely hot and dry conditions.

In February, bushfires killed 173 people in the southeastern state of Victoria, eradicating entire towns and destroying thousands of homes in a firestorm known as Black Saturday.

Tags: Blaze In, Three Australian States, Wildfires