Australia: A grim start to the summer bushfire season

In eastern Victoria, scores of townships were menaced during December by fires fanned by winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour. The blazes cut a swathe through native forests and blanketed the state capital Melbourne with a heavy smoke haze, lifting pollution 10 times above normal levels for several days. Tasmania has also been hard hit, with over 12,000 hectares and scores of houses destroyed in the island state’s northeast. Last month, large fires raged in the Blue Mountains, near Sydney, in New South Wales.

Just before Christmas, Melbourne newspapers reported dozens of hamlets and villages in eastern Victoria under threat with stories of inhabitants battling to reduce undergrowth and implement other measures to defend their homes. In windy conditions burning embers fly ahead of the fire-front and ignite roofs in what is known as an “ember attack”. Residents spent sleepless nights attempting to guard against this danger while farmers worked to douse spot fires that threatened their properties and stock.

At least 32 houses burnt down in Victoria and an alpine ski lodge was destroyed at Mount Buffalo national park. While no towns are currently threatened—rain and unseasonal snow on Christmas Day having dampened the blazes—a few days earlier fire menaced the Mount Buller ski resort on three sides and the town of Dargo.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/fire-d28.shtml