Fire in Australia threatens the city of Perth. There are destroyed cars

O Fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon in a pine plantation in the suburb of Gnangara, a rural and residential area in the northeast of Perth, and quickly spread to other areas on the outskirts of the city, authorities said today.

The fire, largely under control, was intensified by high temperatures in the region, which are expected to reach 40 degrees today, and strong winds, with authorities indicating that it will take several days to control the flames.

More than 130 people were removed from their homes and temporarily displaced, with the number expected to increase throughout the day.

The deputy prime minister of the regional government, Rita Saffioti, told the media today that, according to preliminary data, the flames destroyed “ten houses, as well as four sheds and numerous vehicles, including caravans”.

At the same event, regional emergency services chief Stephen Dawson urged people to prepare for a “long, hot, dry summer” and recommended they have a “bushfire contingency plan, because you never know when a community can be affected.”

Australia, whose forest fire season normally begins in November, will face drier weather than usual this year due to El Niño, a natural phenomenon caused by currents in the Pacific Ocean that, fueled by global warming, can cause devastating catastrophes. .

However, this year there have already been large and destructive forest fires during the month of October in the eastern states of New South Wales and Queensland, which caused the death of at least two people.

Australia’s last two fire seasons have been calm compared to the catastrophic “Black Summer” of 2019-20, when hundreds of bushfires destroyed an area the size of Turkey and caused 33 deaths.

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