SYDNEY, Feb 21 (Reuters) – An out-of-control bushfire in Australia’s Victoria state prompted an evacuation alert for residents near a remote mining settlement, authorities said on Saturday.
The alert, at the highest emergency rating, was for the area surrounding the A1 Mine Settlement in the Gaffney’s Creek region, about 50 km (31 miles) northeast of state capital Melbourne.
“Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous,” Victoria Emergency said on its website, adding that the fire was not yet controlled.
Mountainous terrain was making it difficult for firefighters to battle the blaze from the ground, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Since the 1860s gold has been mined in the sparsely-populated area, which is also popular with campers and tourists.
Three other bushfires were burning on Saturday at watch and act level, the second highest danger rating, Victoria Emergency said.
In January, thousands of firefighters battled bushfires in Australia’s southeast that razed homes, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland. They were the worst fires to hit the southeast since the Black Summer blazes of 2019-2020 that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Comments