Australia bushfires

Australian scientists are developing the country's first satellite designed to predict where bushfires are likely to start, following months of devastating fires.

The Australian National University says a team is creating a "shoebox-sized" satellite that will measure forest ground cover and moisture levels using infrared detectors.

It is hoped the data will help determine where bushfires are likely to start and where they may be difficult to contain. — AFP 

Australia's "black summer" of devastating bushfires is finally coming to a close, but bitter arguments over how to tackle climate-fuelled disasters are raging on.

When firefighters announced this week that all blazes in the hard-hit state of New South Wales were under control for the first time since September, the relief was palpable. — AFP

All the blazes in Australia's hard-hit state of New South Wales have been brought under control, firefighters say, signalling the end of a months-long crisis that claimed 33 lives nationwide.

"As of this afternoon, all fires in New South Wales have now been contained," a Rural Fire Service spokesman says, as fresh rainfall helped extinguish blazes that have burned along the east coast since September. "It is very good news." — AFP

Australia's bushfires have burned more than half the known habitat of 100 threatened plants and animals, including 32 critically endangered species, the government said Monday.

Wildlife experts worry that more than a billion animals have perished in the unprecedented wave of bushfires that have ravaged eastern and southern Australia for months.

Twenty-eight people died in the blazes, which have swept through an area larger than Portugal.

Officials say it will take weeks to assess the exact toll as many fire grounds remain too dangerous to inspect. — AFP

An emotional Serena Williams donated her US$43,000 winner's cheque from the WTA Auckland Classic to the Australian bushfire relief fund on Sunday.

It was the 38-year-old Williams first tournament victory in three years, but she tempered celebrations by saying her thoughts were with Australians.

"I've been playing in Australia for over 20 years and it's been really hard for me to watch all the news and everything that has been happening in Australia with all the fire and... animals and people that have lost their homes."

In addition to donating her winner's cheque, Williams has also signed the dress she wore in the first round in Auckland and put it up for auction to raise funds for the Australian appeal. — AFP

Smoke from bushfires raging across Australia reached Brazil on Tuesday, an arm of the National Institute for Space Research said on Twitter. 

Referring to satellite images, the agency's Department of Remote Sensing said the smoke had arrived in Brazil's southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul. 

Private meteorological company MetSul also tweeted about the arrival of a smoke cloud to Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, but emphasized that "the presence of smoke from Australia in the air is almost imperceptible, despite the satellite showing smoke in the atmosphere over the great Porto Alegre." — AFP

Australians on Sunday counted the cost from a day of catastrophic bushfires that caused "extensive damage" across swathes of the country and took the death toll from the long-running crisis to 24.

Hundreds of properties were destroyed and one man died trying to save a friend's home in the severe conditions — among the worst in Australia's months-long bushfire crisis.

In the country's southeast the skies turned black and ash rained on isolated communities.

"We're in uncharted territory," New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. 

"We can't pretend that this is something that we have experienced before. It's not," she said. — AFP

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces Australia has called up 3,000 military reserves to tackle the country's ongoing bushfire crisis, the largest call-up in living memory.

"Today's decision puts more boots on the ground, puts more planes in the sky, puts more ships at sea," says Morrison, who has been pilloried for his response to the deadly months-long disaster.

A two-star general has also been appointed to oversee the military's response to the crisis and the HMAS Adelaide -- a helicopter carrier -- has been deployed to help the bushfire effort. — AFP

Australia authorized the forced evacuation of residents Thursday amid a mass exodus of tourists from fire-ravaged coastal communities, as the country braces for a weekend heatwave expected to fan deadly bushfires.

Catastrophic blazes ripped through the country's south-east on New Year's Eve, killing at least eight people and stranding holidaymakers.

New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a seven-day state of emergency that allows for forced evacuations beginning Friday, for the third time in Australia's most populated region this fire season. -- AFP

A major operation to reach thousands of people stranded in fire-ravaged seaside towns was under way in Australia on Wednesday after deadly bushfires ripped through popular tourist spots and rural areas leaving at least eight people dead.

Navy ships and military aircraft were deployed alongside emergency crews to provide humanitarian relief and assess the damage from the deadliest spate of blazes yet in a months-long bushfire crisis.

Police said three more bodies were discovered Wednesday, bringing the confirmed death toll since late Monday to eight, including a volunteer firefighter killed when a "fire tornado" flipped his 10-tonne truck.

There were mounting fears for several others missing after the country's southeast was devastated by out-of-control blazes, which destroyed more than 200 homes and left some small towns in ruins. — AFP