Current:Home > BackAustralian authorities protect Outback town against huge wildfire-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Australian authorities protect Outback town against huge wildfire
View Date:2024-12-24 00:48:47
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Emergency crews were working to protect the Outback Australian town of Tennant Creek with containment lines on Wednesday as a huge wildfire threatened the remote community of 3,000.
The fire has scorched 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) of grass and scrubland in the Northern Territory east of Tennant Creek, a former gold mining town.
Police Acting Commander James Gray-Spence said authorities had worked through the night to burn protective containment lines east and south of the town.
“There is a high level of confidence that those containment lines are in place, planned and prepared,” Gray-Spence told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Wildfires are common across Australia’s northern tropical region during the current dry season that will end when the monsoons arrive during the Southern Hemisphere summer.
Because water is in short supply across the region, fire fighting largely involves excavating fire breaks with earthmoving equipment.
But teams were also using water bombers and strategic backburning against the fire near Tennant Creek which began last week.
Charles Darwin University wildfire researcher Rohan Fisher said the fire was unusual in its large size and that it was encroaching on a community. Fires rarely threaten communities in Australia’s sparsely populated north.
“It is one of the largest events that we’ve seen for a while,” Fisher said.
“Fires of around this scale are not that uncommon in really remote parts of Australia, although they’re usually not reported on,” Fisher added.
Unusually abundant rain in recent years meant there was more fuel in the landscape than usual, he said.
The Northern Territory government on Tuesday declared an emergency situation in Tennant Creek and the surrounding Barkly region, which gives police emergency powers to move people and assets.
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said he was confident the town would not need to be evacuated and the emergency declaration was a precautionary measure for public safety.
veryGood! (34)
Related
- Fighting conspiracy theories with comedy? That’s what the Onion hopes after its purchase of Infowars
- Exonerees support Adnan Syed in recent court filing as appeal drags on
- Half of University of San Diego football team facing discipline for alleged hazing
- Phillies set to use facial authentication to identify ticketholders
- Jana Kramer’s Ex Mike Caussin Shares Resentment Over Her Child Support Payments
- $5.6 million bid for one offshore tract marks modest start for Gulf of Mexico wind energy
- Teachers go on strike in southwest Washington state over class sizes
- A robot to help you order pancakes? IHOP enters the AI game with online order suggestions
- Former West Virginia jail officer pleads guilty to civil rights violation in fatal assault on inmate
- Officials say gas explosion destroyed NFL player Caleb Farley’s home, killing his dad
Ranking
- California farmers enjoy pistachio boom, with much of it headed to China
- Simone Biles' mind is as important as her body in comeback
- Texas drought exposes resting place of five sunken World War I ships in Neches River
- Louisiana plagued by unprecedented wildfires, as largest active blaze grows
- Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper Prove They're Going Strong With Twinning Looks on NYC Date
- Jared Leto’s Impressive Abs Reveal Is Too Gucci
- Texas drought exposes resting place of five sunken World War I ships in Neches River
- US economic growth for last quarter is revised down to a 2.1% annual rate
Recommendation
-
Mike Tomlin's widely questioned QB switch to Russell Wilson has quieted Steelers' critics
-
Lady Gaga's White Eyeliner Look Is the Makeup Trick You Need for Those No Sleep Days
-
Municipalities say Pennsylvania court ruling on stormwater fees could drain them financially
-
Nothing had been done like that before: Civil rights icon Dr. Josie Johnson on 60 years since March on Washington
-
John Krasinski named People magazine’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive
-
Angels go from all-in to folding, inexplicably placing six veterans on waivers
-
Critical fire weather in arrives Northern California’s interior; PG&E cuts power to 8,400 customers
-
You remember Deion Sanders as an athletic freak. Now, he just wants to coach standing up.