Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




FIRE STORM
Cooler conditions help firefighters in Australia
by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Sept 11, 2013


Cooler weather and lighter winds helped fire crews gain control of bushfires raging across New South Wales Wednesday as formal investigations began into the cause of the blazes.

Sixty-three fires were still burning in Australia's most populous state, 25 of them uncontained and many in western Sydney, but a significant drop in temperatures and easing winds proved a welcome relief after challenging conditions Tuesday.

"Over 1,200 firefighters and 350 trucks battled these blazes yesterday," the NSW Rural Fire Service said on its Facebook page, adding that 1,800 hectares (4,447 acres) were burnt.

"Backburning was undertaken last night as containment lines were built or strengthened. Cooler temperatures and slower winds will help firefighters today," it added.

The fierce infernos that erupted Tuesday, unusually early in the season, left six firefighters injured and destroyed one home, revised down Wednesday from two reported by authorities previously.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said all fire alerts had been scaled back and there were no longer any emergency warnings in force.

"Conditions have moderated considerably but there's still a lot of work to do," he told ABC radio, adding that he could not rule out that the fires had been deliberately lit or were the result of backburning.

"We have a number of fire specialists and police officers that will be out there this morning... and they'll be doing investigations into cause and origin," he said.

The fires followed 27 dry days in Sydney and mark an early start to the bushfire season, just days after the official end of winter.

Australia has just experienced its warmest 12 months on record, with the last summer witnessing an unprecedented heatwave, as well as bushfires and floods, seeing a government commission dub it an "Angry Summer".

"It is a stark reminder that summer is around the corner and when the weather ingredients are right you've got a recipe for fires to start quickly and start easily," said Fitzsimmons.

While fire crews in New South Wales were getting on top of the situation, colleagues in Queensland were on alert with hot and windy conditions through large parts of the state which, like New South Wales, has only had minimal rain over the past six weeks.

"Very dry, low humidity and high winds coming in from the west, so that's a pretty dangerous situation," Peter Varley from the Rural Fire Service said of Queensland.

.


Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








FIRE STORM
Wildfires projected to worsen with climate change
Cambridge, MA (SPX) Sep 10, 2013
Research by environmental scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) brings bad news to the western United States, where firefighters are currently battling dozens of fires in at least 11 states. The Harvard team's study suggests wildfire seasons by 2050 will be about three weeks longer, up to twice as smoky, and will burn a wider area in the western states ... read more


FIRE STORM
Japan sets new date for satellite rocket launch

Arianespace delivers! EUTELSAT 25B/Es'hail 1 and GSAT-7 are orbited by Ariane 5

Arianespace to "reach for the stars" with its Soyuz launch of Europe's Gaia space surveyor spacecraft

Ariane 5 build-up is completed for Arianespace upcoming flight with EUTELSAT

FIRE STORM
Terramechanics research aims to keep Mars rovers rolling

New technology could make for smarter planet rovers

India prepares to launch country's maiden mission to Mars

SwRI study suggests debris flows on frozen arctic sand dunes are similar to dark dune spot-seepage flows on Mars

FIRE STORM
Scientists say water on moon may have originated on Earth

Moon landing mission to use "secret weapons"

NASA launches spacecraft to study Moon atmosphere

NASA-Funded Scientists Detect Water on Moon's Surface that Hints at Water Below

FIRE STORM
New Horizons - Late in Cruise, and a Binary Ahoy

Pluto Science Conference Exceeds Expectations

SciTechTalk: Grab your erasers, there are more moons than we thought

NASA Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

FIRE STORM
Coldest Brown Dwarfs Blur Lines between Stars and Planets

NASA-funded Program Helps Amateur Astronomers Detect Alien Worlds

Observations strongly suggest distant super-Earth has water atmosphere

Waking up to a new year

FIRE STORM
Proposed Russian spacecraft to have a modern convenience -- a toilet

Japan suspends satellite rocket launch at last minute

NASA Tests Limits of 3-D Printing with Powerful Rocket Engine Check

NASA Continues Preparation for SLS Engine Testing at Stennis

FIRE STORM
China civilian technology satellites put into use

China to launch lunar lander by end of year: media

China launches three experimental satellites

Medical quarantine over for Shenzhou-10 astronauts

FIRE STORM
Comet-hunting spacecraft still mute despite attempts to awaken it

Large near-Earth object, long thought an asteroid, is comet

Changes in Comet Rotation May be Predicted With Greater Accuracy

NASA Spacecraft Reactivated to Hunt for Asteroids




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement