Fire rage eases in Australia's south amid cooler weather

15 December 2006

published by english.people.com.cn

Australia -- Fire conditions in Australia's southern state of Tasmania eased Friday as cooler and calmer weather conditions are expected over the weekend.

However, firefighter on Tasmania's east coast said the fire emergency is far from over, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported Friday.

The fire which has been burning since last weekend flared in the hot windy conditions Thursday and four houses in the coastal township of Four Mile Creek were destroyed.

In the state's south-east, the fire which started near Bream Creek has now burnt out over 8,000 hectares and is not yet under control.

Fire crews are also trying to get control of a fire at Pioneer in the north-east.

The Fire Service's Ken Burns said strange weather patterns are not helping.

"This fire's like a big tiger sleeping in the bush," he was quoted as saying.

"We haven't got it contained by any means and north-eastern Tasmania, particularly the Fingal Valley, is subjected to some unusual weather patterns," he added.

"A couple of days ago we had north-westerly winds in the south- eastern corner of the fire and at the same time we had south- easterly winds in the north-west corner of the fires," he said.

Meanwhile, the fires in the southeastern state of Victoria claimed their first victim when a man fighting a bushfire near Heyfield in Gippsland died Thursday night after he fell from the back of a trailer being towed by a ute and was run over.