Climate Change Shows its Teeth: Australia

Tim Holmes said he and his wife and their five grandchildren sought shelter in the water under a jetty for three hours.

“We saw tornadoes of fire just coming across towards us and the next thing we knew everything was on fire, everywhere all around us,” he said.

Later on, he managed to make his way to shore and fetch a dinghy to transport his wife and the children.

Guardian

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More than 100 separate fires are burning in New South Wales. Some 3,000 sq km of land has been razed.

One of the fires is encroaching on a disused army range littered with unexploded bombs, though fire crews are confident they can tackle the blaze.

Dozens of homes have been destroyed, but no-one is believed to have died.

Wildfires plague Australia most years during the hot, dry summers.

The worst fires in recent memory killed more than 170 people in early 2009.

This year, a spell of record-breaking hot weather across the south-east has helped fan the fires.

BBC