Waroona Fire Consumes 143,000 Acres S. Of Perth In Less Than 48 Hours; Town Of Yarloop Burns
On the back of hot, windy weather, a wildfire raging in Western Australia continues to wreak destruction across the state. The fire has burned more than 140,000 acres as of Friday and engulfed the small town of Yarloop.
Lightning ignited the wildfires — known in Australia as bushfires — across Western Australia on Wednesday. The largest flared up about 70 miles south of the state capital of Perth and was dubbed the Waroona fire after the nearest town. Flames initially threatened Waroona, prompting an evacuation, before winds changed direction.
On Thursday, the fire flared up in a major way, aided by temperatures that reached up to 104°F and winds that gusted to 37 mph. It quickly outran containment efforts and on Thursday night devastated the small town of Yarloop about 15 miles south of Waroona. An outpost with a population of about 600, the town saw widespread destruction of at least 95 structures, though fortunately there were no fatalities.
Murray Cowper, a local politician, told the BBC, "You've got seasoned firefighters who've been around for many years saying they've never seen anything like it. This could well be the end of the town." As of Friday evening local time, the fire had burned 143,000 acres and was still not contained. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting for severe wildfire conditions to persist on Saturday. Conditions will remain hot — though not as extreme as they were this week — and windy into next week, which could make it a continued challenge for firefighters.
EDIT
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/western-australia-wildfire-19893
