Officially ... Australia's wildfires are out of control
Sixteen fires continued to burn in Victoria at the level of the state of emergency or evacuation and 12 in New South Wales at the level of the emergency, in addition to 100 fires in other states. New fires started to burn, while others were out of control
"We are getting ready for a long night and we have not faced the worst yet," Gladys Prijclican, Prime Minister of New South Wales, said in a statement yesterday afternoon. "The situation is very volatile."
The authorities fear that the situation will become worse than it was on the eve of the new year, when the fires swamped vast areas of grassland and forced residents and tourists to flee to the beaches.
It may not be possible to count the damages at least a day before. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the death toll in the current fire season that started in September was 23, including 12 in just last week's fires.
And the rural fire extinguishing service updated the fire warnings, repeating the same advice to those who could not leave, and said, "It is too late to leave. "Look for shelter as fires approach."
On social media, residents posted pictures of the sky that were covered in black and red because of smoke and burning fires, including pictures in the town of Malakota in Victoria State, which evacuated about 100 of its residents by sea Friday.
The Federal Government launched an unprecedented distress for the reserve forces in the army to support firefighters, and called for other resources, including a third naval vessel equipped for humanitarian relief and disaster relief operations.
Yesterday, Australia called in 3,000 soldiers to help fight forest fires that devour large parts of the continent.
The Australian Prime Minister said that the government has assigned a general to oversee military intervention in firefighting efforts, which will also be contributed by a helicopter carrier.
At least 22 people have been killed and dozens missing since the start of the fire season in Australia in September, while some 1,300 homes have been burned
