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by IANS |
Sydney, Feb 14 (IANS) A high risk warning has been issued for an out-of-control bushfire burning on the west coast of the Australian island state of Tasmania.
Residents of the small coastal community of Granville Harbour were on Friday advised to leave within hours if they were not prepared for the threat posed by a bushfire in a densely forested area approximately 13 km north.
An emergency warning issued by TasAlert said that the uncontrollable fire was traveling south and was expected to put Granville Harbour at high risk.
"Embers, smoke, and ash may fall on Granville Harbour and surrounds and threaten you and your home before the main fire arrives," it said.
More than 70 properties in Granville Harbour were left without electricity, with long delays expected before service was restored.
Local resident Grant Hodge told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television on Friday that the sky on Thursday night looked like a "volcanic eruption".
People who did leave were advised to head south towards a nearby evacuation centre. The fire cut off the only major road to the north and a second out-of-control fire to the east closed the only road in that direction.
The fire to the east triggered an evacuation warning for the town of Zeehan, 25 km east of Granville Harbour, on Thursday night.
Scott Vinen from the Tasmania Fire Service told the ABC that the fire came within four km of Zeehan but that conditions had eased. More than 50 firefighters and 30 aircraft were working to control the fires, Vinen said.
People in the town of Corinna between the two fires were told to seek shelter, Xinhua news agency reported.
Bushfires can be started by natural causes, such as lightning strikes, or by people (accidentally or on purpose). Weather conditions and fuel conditions play a part in bushfires happening. Materials such as leaf litter, bark, small branches and twigs, grasses and shrubs can provide fuel for bushfires.
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