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Article: Nine villages ordered to evacuate as wild fires spread in ski resort region
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- January 30, 2003
- Author:
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Dateline: SYDNEY, Australia
Authorities warned residents to evacuate nine alpine villages Thursday
while dozens of other towns were on alert as soaring temperatures
and brutal winds transformed three-week-old wildfires into raging
infernos over a vast region of southeast Australia.
Dozens of fires burned across an area stretching 300 kilometers (185
miles) from the nation's capital, Canberra, in New South Wales state
to the Gippsland region in Victoria state.
Forest, farms and grasslands parched dry by one of the worst droughts
in a century provided fuel for the fires, which were fanned by winds
of up to 80 kph (50 mph) amid temperatures of more than 40 degrees ...