Australian firefighters warn of a high-risk bushfire season as Victoria recovers from deadly fires that destroyed over 350 structures.
SYDNEY: Australian firefighters have warned communities to prepare for more bushfires in a “high-risk” summer.
The warning follows blazes that killed one person and incinerated more than 350 buildings in the country’s southeast.
Weather conditions have eased since strong winds and temperatures above 40C fed dozens of wildfires in Victoria, which declared a state of disaster.
Officials said 12 major fires were still burning across the state.
Country Fire Authority chief officer Jason Heffernan said another “heating event” was expected towards the end of January.
“We are early in the high-risk weather season,” Heffernan told a news conference.
He said much work would be done to contain existing fires before the next heating event.
More than 350 structures, including over 65 homes, have been lost in Victoria so far.
The number is likely to rise as fire damage assessments continue.
One person died in a fire near the town of Longwood, about two hours’ drive north of Melbourne.
Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said weather conditions had become more favourable.
“But that doesn’t mean that the risk is over,” he said.
He warned that even slight winds could still cause fires to move around.
Last week’s high temperatures and dry winds created some of the most dangerous conditions since the “Black Summer” blazes.
The Black Summer bushfires raged from late 2019 to early 2020, destroying thousands of homes.
Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.51C since 1910, fuelling increasingly frequent extreme weather.
