The Associated Press
Sydney: Firefighters yesterday used helicopters to bomb a wildfire blazing out of control west of Sydney with water, and welcomed forecast temporary relief from hot and windy conditions that pushed the fire close to homes a day earlier.
The blaze in the deep and heavily-wooded Grose Valley about 80 kilometres west of downtown Sydney is the largest and most dangerous of dozens of fires burning across southeastern Australia.
Wildfires, called bushfires in Australia, are a common occurrence each year between November and February, when hot and dry conditions are sometimes accompanied by blustery winds and periodic thunderstorms with lightning that sets off tinder-dry brush.
The Grose Valley fire started more than 10 days ago and has scorched more than 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of inaccessible land in the Blue Mountains, officials said.
Winds gusting up to 100 kilometres an hour on Wednesday caused flying embers to start several smaller fires, some of which came close to several towns before conditions eased overnight.
New South Wales state Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg warned that the danger could rise if conditions changed again, for the worse.
“We’ve been water bombing them relentlessly for the past five days with no effect other than to slightly retard their forward progress,” Koperberg said.