Winds fan Australia bushfires, fireworks still on
( 2001-12-31 16:32 ) (7 )

Hot, blustery winds fanned bushfires around Sydney on Monday, forcing evacuations, but Australia's biggest city will go ahead with New Year's Eve fireworks over its scenic harbour.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Hill Top suburb southwest of Sydney as light rain failed to dampen the fires creeping closer to city suburbs.

The Sydney weather bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning on Monday evening, with predicted winds of up to 100 kmh (62 kmh), but fire officials warned the storm could make conditions worse for firefighters battling more than 100 blazes.

"The strong winds will wreck havoc for firefighters on the ground. Fires will move extremely quickly under those horrendous conditions," New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service spokesman John Winter told Australian television.

"What we need is for the rain to be sufficient to assist in extinguishment," Winter said.

Despite the seven-day fire crisis, smoke-shrouded Sydney will celebrate New Year's Eve with a huge fireworks display over Sydney Harbour.

A total fire ban has been in place in New South Wales since the fires took hold on Christmas day, but fire officials have made an exception for the Harbour fireworks display.

"As in New York, a city which has had a major terrorist incident that has produced a mass grave, there is a New Year's Eve celebration. There should be a New Year's Eve celebration here," said NSW state premier Bob Carr.

But firefighters are concerned about backyard fireworks.

"When sparks from flares or fireworks land in the bush they have the potential to start a major blaze," warned NSW Fire Brigades Commissioner Ian MacDougall.

ARSONISTS HUNTED

The "Black Christmas" fires, the majority lit by arsonists, have destroyed 150 homes, devastated about 250,000 hectares (625,000 acres) of bush, and killed thousands of sheep.

There have been no serious injuries, but dozens of firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation.

A special police and fire brigade taskforce is hunting arsonists who continue to light fires.

Eight people, including three 15-year-old boys, have been arrested in connection with lighting fires with Deputy Police Commissioner Ken Moroney describing acts of arson as "bastardry".

Carr said he would explore the maximum punishment for arsonists in light of the current crisis. "When this is over, I'll look at the question of whether the 14 years maximum is long enough," he told Australian television.

BIRDS FALL FROM SKY

As a heavy blanket of smoke creates record pollution in Sydney, birds in one of the worst fire areas in the western Blue Mountains are falling out of the sky due to smoke inhalation, the Wildlife Information and Rescue Service (WIRES) said on Monday.

A number of Australian native plants need fire to regenerate, but tens of thousands of native animals are feared to have perished in Sydney's bushfires.

The blazes ringing Sydney are the most intense the city has experienced since 1994 when fires entered the city's exclusive bush suburbs. Four people died in the 1994 fires.

Australia's most deadly bushfires occured on "Ash Wednesday" February 16, 1983. A total of 76 people died in fires sweeping across almost all of the southern state of Victoria and parts of neighbouring South Australia state.

Australian insurers said the cost of the bushfires remains at about A$50 million ($25.52 million), but further claims are expected. This compares with A$56 million ($28.59 million) from 3,500 claims in 1994.

But while thousands of firefighters fight the Sydney fires, an outback family has for the past 13 days battled a blaze twice as big as all the fires in NSW state.

The Mengersens, mainly father John and 21-year-old son Peter, have fought a blaze that has burnt one million acres (404,700 hectares) of their Argadargada Station, a 5,051 square kilometre (1,950 square miles) cattle property in the Northern Territory.

"Us girls give a hand when we can, but its mainly just the two of them," John's wife Jill Mengersen said on Monday.