Australia fires: ‘Not much left’ of town ravaged by bushfire

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – The leader of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, says “catastrophic” fire conditions have almost completely razed one Australian community.

She said there was “not much left” of the town of Balmoral, south-west of Sydney, where about 400 people live.

Firefighters are struggling to contain bushfires burning across several states amid dry and hot conditions.

One Balmoral resident, Steve Harrison, shared his dramatic story of surviving the destructive blaze.

“I ran to my [vehicle] but my garden was already on fire here, and the driveway was on fire and the road was on fire, so I realised I couldn’t evacuate,” the 67-year-old artist told ABC.

“So the day before I had actually built myself a small kiln down the back. A coffin-sized kiln, just big enough for me to crawl inside. I hid in there for half an hour while the fire storm went over.”

Since September, Australia’s bushfire emergency has killed at least nine people, destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched millions of hectares of land.

On Sunday Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised for causing “great anxiety” by going on holiday during the mounting crisis.

What is the latest?

A number of small towns have reportedly sustained significant damage this weekend.

Balmoral was hit, for the second time in days, as wind conditions changed around the Green Wattle Creek fire on Saturday.

Residents are currently not allowed to return to the town, amid safety concerns, and an unknown number of homes have been destroyed.

“We want people to have access to their land, to their property, as soon as they can. But it has to be safe,” Ms Berejiklian said. “Even if people have lost their properties, they still want to go back to see what’s left and if there is anything they can salvage.”

No fatalities were reported in the town, but several firefighters were reportedly injured when fighting the blaze.

Elsewhere, at least 86 homes have now been destroyed in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia – where a 69-year-old man was found dead at his property on Saturday.

As of Sunday night there were still 98 fires burning in New South Wales, including 50 yet to be contained. (Courtesy – BBC)