Warming temperatures calms Australia's fires

This is the time when firemen act to prevent further proliferation of fires. But authorities there say the fire season is far from over, so this issue should be carefully followed.

Emergency teams in the town of Bodalla in New South Wales, the country hardest hit by last week's fires in Australia, say that temperature change created conditions for them to fight fires, preventing their spread on a major highway.

The fire at Mount Gospers in northwest Sydney, which started burning from October, is now under control because of light rainfall.

However, another 111 fires are still lit in this state, 40 of them uncontrolled, say the department against fires.

With changes in the temperature, the fires have calmed down. That allows us to go out in front of the fire and fight with it. We have to work to create the division between the untouched part of the earth with the fires to come. We succeeded in the last two days. As long as the climate is on our side, so we'll continue”, said Dale McLean, a fireman.

The situation is almost the same in Victoria State. There, State Prime Minister Victoria, Daniel Andrews, warned that the fire season is not over, so caution must continue.

The fire is not over, every night new ones are lit. At the moment we have 19 fires and a number of emergency warnings. It's important that communities be notified. A few very challenging months and difficult conditions await us. We're going to continue to see more fires, so we have to be alert”, said Daniel Andrews, leader of the government in Victoria.

This is not an easy time for firemen, says Steve Warrington of the Fire Department in Victoria State.

We had about 5 percent of the country, burned or burned, so we are in pursuit of fires that have spread thousands of miles. For many reasons, this is the most dangerous period for firemen, since there are other surprises besides the threat of fire that result as tree fall. So it's a critical time for us”, Steve Warrington said, from the Fire Department in Victoria State.

Since September, at least 27 people lost their lives as a result of fires that burned more than 10 million acres [10 million ha] of land.

On Saturday in Sydney, 30,000 people reportedly protested climate change, as well as criticised the Australian government for responding to fires.

Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, is being carefully monitored for the way he handled the fires, charging that he reduced the role of climate change in destructive fires.

The chief of executives in the past has defended its energy and climate policies as adequate and responsible, but on Saturday he said his government is working to create a long-term programme to reduce the risk of natural disasters in response to climate change. / VoA