AUSTRALIA: Firefighters fought flames house to house in northern Sydney yesterday as gale-force winds whipped up fierce bush fires, threatening scores of homes in Australia's main city.
"This is what we have been dreading, a very big, uncontrolled fire, flaring up with strong winds. We are fighting the fire house by house, which is the hardest way to fight a fire," said fireman Ian Krimmer, standing in front of a smouldering house.
The body of an 81-year-old man was found in a burned-out caravan in scorched bush land yesterday, bringing to two the number killed since the fire crisis began on Wednesday.
There were 79 fires burning yesterday through New South Wales state, which like the rest of Australia is in the grip of drought, but a major blaze to Sydney's north and another in the Blue Mountains to the west of the city posed the greatest danger. More than 20 Sydney homes have been destroyed. - (Reuters)