Temperature Lull Offers Australia’s Firefighters Small Reprieve

(Bloomberg) -- Thousands of firefighters are spending Christmas Eve racing to quell blazes along Australia’s eastern seaboard as a temporary lull in a record heatwave offers some respite.

In New South Wales, Australia’s most-populous state, 92 fires are burning -- 40 of them yet to be contained. Authorities are trying to strengthen containment lines to slow the spread of the fires, before a return of scorching temperatures forecast this weekend.

While New South Wales has been the site of most of the destruction since the fire season began unusually early during winter, the crisis has spread to Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia -- where around 86 homes were destroyed at the weekend and the latest fatality took the national death toll to nine.

Temperatures in Australia have soared to new highs this summer, with Australia hitting its hottest day on record last week. Prime Minister Scott Morrison cut short a family vacation in Hawaii at the weekend, amid a public backlash against the unannounced trip while the wildfires worsened.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sybilla Gross in Sydney at sgross61@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net

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