With a time scale of 6 minutes per second, this amazing footage shows how quickly fire swept through the Warrumbungles forest on Jan 13 2013. VISION: Mopra radio telescope (operated by CSIRO) and the Siding Springs Observatory (AAO)
TWELVE homes have been destroyed by an out of control bushfire in northern NSW while a firefighter has died battling Tasmania's bushfires.
Rural Fire Service (RFS) spokeswoman Laura Ryan said the homes were lost on Timor Road near the Warrumbungle National Park, west of Coonabarabran.
One building at the Siding Spring Observatory had also been destroyed, but the main telescope has survived.
"This is a large and dangerous bushfire," the RFS said this morning.
"The fire is burning in a northerly direction away from Timor Road and the Siding Spring Observatory and is currently approximately 1km south of Bugaldie."
More than 65 firefighters and 17 trucks were on site in the early hours, with more expected to arrive throughout Monday.
A photo taken by Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield aboard the International Space Station shows smoke clouds from bushfires across Australia. Picture: Chris Hadfield/Twitter
Meanwhile, more than than 110 people have been evacuated to Tattersalls Hotel at nearby Baradine, as the RFS warns people not to return home.
Ms Ryan said aerial photographs taken of the Siding Spring Observatory at first light today showed the main telescope had survived; however, it was not yet known if it had been damaged.
The pictures show the charred remains of bush surrounding the observatory and one of the buildings on the site had been completely destroyed.
Eighteen staff from the observatory were evacuated on Sunday to nearby Coonabarabran, and a watch and act remains in place for the fire, which has burned through more than 32,000 hectares of bush, scrub and grass.
The Australian National University, which owns the site, said five buildings had either been "severely affected or damaged", including the lodge used to accommodate visiting researchers and a number of cottages and sheds.
The Warrumbungle bushfire threatens the Siding Spring Observatory. Picture: AFP
"A fire has been extinguished at the visitors centre this morning," ANU said in a statement on Monday.
"We expect the visitors centre has been severely damaged."
It said no telescopes appear to have sustained major damage, but the impact on the site's instruments will not be known until later on Monday.
The NSW fire emergency comes as Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment
confirmed one of its firefighters
Helicopters attempt to control fires in New South Wales after lightning sets more areas ablaze. Lindsey Parietti reports.
, a man in his 60s from Gippsland, died yesterday while battling fires in Tasmania.
DSE Secretary Greg Wilson and Chief Fire Officer Alan Goodwin said the firefighter was found near Taranna, a hamlet on the Tasman Peninsula, where he had been working on foot on the southern boundary of the Forcett Fire about 2 to 3km from the fire's edge.
"It is with deep regret that the Department of Sustainability and Environment can confirm that a DSE firefighter has died in Tasmania this afternoon where he was part of the Victorian contingent of firefighters sent to assist with the Tasmanian bushfires," Mr Wilson and Mr Goodwin said in a joint statement.
"The firefighter's family have been notified and no further personal details are available at this time."
It was unclear exactly how the man died or if he was working alone.
The Warrumbungle bushfire threatens the Siding Spring Observatory. Picture: AFP
DSE spokeswoman Kim Payne said the circumstances around the man's death were being investigated.
DSE staff have been sent to Tasmania to support firefighters still on the ground.
The man's death is believed to be the first fatality among firefighters during a horror fire across eastern Australia.
In Tasmania, police have opened the Arthur Highway on the bushfire-ravaged Tasman Peninsula - nine days after it was closed when a large bushfire tore through communities along the road.
Fire crews are continuing to patrol two separate fires on the Tasman Peninsula that have burned about 24,060ha.
A picture taken from Coonabarabran shows the size of the blaze. Picture: Twitter user Paul Dutton.
The Forcett fire remains uncontrolled in the Kellevie, Bream Creek and Marion Bay areas and residents have been urged to stay vigilant.
Planned backburning operations in the Lagoon Bay area will cause increased smoke in Dunalley through to Eaglehawk Neck today.
Some 150 personnel, 39 fire fighting tankers, interstate crews, private contractors and four aircraft continue to work on the fires which have a 200km perimeter.
Battle-weary firefighters are bracing themselves for another round of horror conditions later this week, with temperatures forecast to reach up to 40C across most of the east coast on Thursday.
January has already seen a number of heat extremes with Australia recording its highest ever temperature in 15 years when the mercury hit 49.6C at Moomba in South Australia's Far North East on Saturday.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Firefighter dies, homes lost
Dengan url
https://donyblackedet.blogspot.com/2013/01/firefighter-dies-homes-lost.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Firefighter dies, homes lost
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar