Wildfires Destroy 17 Homes in Eastern Australia

(Bloomberg) -- As many as 69 active fires are burning throughout Queensland state in Eastern Australia, authorities said.

“We know at this stage we have 17 homes lost,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said at a press conference in Brisbane. The main area of concern is around the Stanthorpe, and particularly Applethorpe in the Granite Belt.

Bruce Gunn, the state’s manager for the Bureau of Meteorology, said the danger remains very high despite cool, dry air flowing in from the west.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressed the bushfires at the NSW Liberal Party Conference on Saturday.

“Wherever you are in Australia today, I know you are standing with those who are facing that adversity in what is still a very tense situation,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Jones in Melbourne at revans6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan Sundaram

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