Australian firemen race to douse blaze before weather worsens

Firefighters were battling Monday to contain a major blaze ahead of the forecast return of strong winds and a heatwave following the loss of a dozen homes in the worst bushfire conditions in South Australia for three decades, officials said. The state’s Fire Service said properties were still at risk after nearly 13,000 hectares of scrub and farmland were burnt out in the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of Adelaide, over the weekend. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said that with cooler weather and calmer winds forecast for Monday and Tuesday, it was now a race against time with tougher conditions expected from Wednesday in the Adelaide Hills. At least 29 people, mostly firefighters, have suffered minor injuries from the fire, police said. South Australian police added they had accounted for two elderly people who had been reported as missing.

This is by no means over…We’re really racing against time to try to make sure that we get as much of this contained before the hotter weather and the stronger winds are expected later in the week.

South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill

Hundreds of firefighters from the neighbouring states of Victoria and New South Wales joined their South Australian counterparts Sunday, taking the total crew battling the blaze to more than 800, but the numbers dropped to 500 on Monday. State officials said on Saturday it was the worst fire conditions they had seen since the 1983 bushfires of Ash Wednesday. The 1983 disaster killed more than 70 people in South Australia and Victoria and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

Asia-Pacific