- A fire official said "fluky winds" are a factor in the fire.
- Steep terrain is also an issue.
- More than 70 homes have burned.
Winds and steep terrain are creating hazardous conditions for crews battling a wildfire east of Perth, Australia.
"The fire’s still uncontained and uncontrolled," Craig Waters, deputy commissioner of operations for the Western Australia Department of Fire and Emergency Services, said in a news briefing Wednesday. "It’s still a work in progress at this point."
The fire is burning near the community of Wooroloo, about 30 miles outside of Perth near Australia's western coast. Waters said at least 71 homes have been destroyed and more than 37 square miles of land scorched.
Waters said there are no reports of deaths or missing people, but a few firefighters sustained minor burns.
He said conditions remained extremely dangerous for firefighters, with wind that is changing direction and posing major challenges.
"It’s very steep terrain – we’ve got a lot of valleys, a lot of hills," Waters said. "We’re experiencing really fluky winds."
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The region around Perth may see some relief from dry conditions as the remnants from a tropical cyclone move in later this week, but that could also lead to more hazardous winds.
"Shifts in winds can provide relief for some areas under threat but can also put others at risk, affecting firefighting efforts in different ways," the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said in a forecast update.
Smoke alerts were issued for some areas around Perth. Drivers were advised that visibility may be low, and those with respiratory conditions exacerbated by the smoke were advised to contact their doctor.
Residents in some areas were warned that "it’s too late to leave and leaving now would be deadly," and also advised people worried about COVID-19 restrictions to make staying safe from the fire a higher priority.
Officials said they understand residents are anxious to return and assess the damage, but they couldn't guarantee when that might happen.
"The bushfire remains in a very unstable condition," Deputy Incident Controller Greg Mair from Parks and Wildlife Service, Western Australia, said in a news briefing. "Our focus remains on human life, making sure people remain safe in this changing situation."
The blaze comes during fire season in Australia, where it is currently summer and conditions are typically hot and dry. Fires in the 2019-20 season burned more than 65,000 square miles of land, destroyed some 3,000 homes and killed at least 33 people.
Those fires, mostly in the eastern part of the country, came amid some of Australia's hottest temperatures on record.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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February 04, 2021 at 05:42AM
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