Navy ships and military aircraft were bringing water, food and fuel to towns where supplies were depleted and roads were cut off by the fires
. Authorities confirmed three bodies were found Wednesday at Lake Conjola on the south coast of New South Wales, bringing the death toll in the state to 15.Some 4,000 people in the coastal town of Mallacoota fled to the shore as winds pushed a fire toward their homes under a sky darkened by smoke and turned blood-red by flames. Stranded residents and vacationers slept in their cars, and gas stations and surf clubs transformed into evacuation areas.
Conditions cooled Wednesday, but the fire danger remained very high across the state, where four people are missing. Firefighting crews took advantage of easing conditions on Wednesday to restore power to critical infrastructure and conduct some back burning, before conditions were expected to deteriorate Saturday as high temperatures and strong winds return.“There is every potential that the conditions on Saturday will be as bad or worse than we saw yesterday,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said.
The leader of the minor Australian Greens party, Richard Di Natale, demanded a royal commission, the nation’s highest form of inquiry, on the wildfire crisis.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Australia sending military to wildfire towns ravaged by apocalyptic wildfiresAustralia deployed military ships and aircraft Wednesday to help communities ravaged by apocalyptic wildfires that have left at least 17 people dead nationwide and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline.
Read more »
Canada sends two more groups of firefighters to Australia to help fight wildfiresStephen Tulle, duty officer with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, says the Canadians will primarily be performing fire-manager duties, related to command, planning, logistics and aviation management
Read more »
Canada sends two more groups of Canadians to Australia to help fight wildfiresB.C. firefighters are among staff from across Canada are on their way to Australia to bolster Canadians already assisting the country in the battle against devastating wildfires.
Read more »
Australia scrambles to reach thousands stranded by bushfiresFire-ravaged Australia has launched a major operation to reach thousands of people stranded in seaside towns after deadly bushfires ripped through popular tourist areas on New Year's Eve.
Read more »
HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media
Read more »