During the Australian spring, the severe fires have largely been absent so far, but when summer officially arrived on December 1st, it wasn't long before the fires flared up in New South Wales.
A state of emergency has been declared in six districts of the state, the country's most populous, after as many as 75 fires raged out of control.
Spread over water
Winds and high temperatures – in the Sydney area reaching 40 degrees on Saturday – are causing the fire to spread quickly. In Woy Woy, north of Sydney, a fire spread one kilometre across water as sparks and embers were carried by the wind, the ABC media company reports.
"We've seen similar fire activity in several places, sometimes (the fire) jumped not just a kilometer but several. Then it starts to become really difficult for firefighters to get the fires under control," Ben Shepherd, head of the rescue service RFS, told ABC.
The towns of Koolewong and Bulahdelah, around 40 and 180 kilometres north of Sydney respectively, have been the worst hit so far with a total of 20 homes burnt down. The fires are now all under control, according to the RFS, but Prime Minister Albanese fears there will be more.
This summer looks set to be difficult, as it seems in recent years, he says, according to The Guardian .
In New South Wales in particular, there are conditions that could make things really difficult.
Fearing a repeat of the black summer
The winter was relatively wet in several places, but according to the weather analysis company DTN , the last few months have been very dry and with forecasts for an unusually warm summer, this means a great fire danger.
In recent years, large fires have raged in southeastern Australia, and many fear that the black summer of 2019–2020 will be repeated.
A total of 170,000 square kilometers burned, which is approximately the size of Svealand and Götaland combined. 33 people died and over 3,000 houses burned down, most of them in New South Wales.
