Australian firefighters battle to contain blazes

  • 12 years ago
Fierce fires rip through the countryside in Cooma, Australia.

Authorities are concerned that strong winds and soaring temperatures forecast for the next few days will fuel the blazes.

Fire crews have been fighting the infernos around the clock, with over 80 firefighting aircraft, 1,000 volunteers and 360 firetrucks deployed in Cooma alone.

At Sussex Inlet, south of Sydney, almost 6,000 hectares of land has already been burnt.

And farmers in Yass, south west of Sydney, have lost a great deal of livestock.

Local broadcaster Nine Network reported that an estimated 10,000 sheep have been killed across New South Wales

Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent, is particularly vulnerable to bushfires, fuelled each summer by extreme heat.

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