Australia: Emergency warnings are in place in Victoria and New South Wales

Three fires have combined to form a single blaze bigger than
the New York borough of Manhattan, as Australian Fire-Fighters
battle what has been predicted to be the most catastrophic day yet in an
already devastating bushfire season.

The fires joined overnight in the Omeo region in Victoria
state, creating a 6,000-hectare (23
square mile) blaze, according to Gippsland’s Department of Environment, Land,
Water and Planning.

In neighboring New South Wales state, a fire in the
Wollondilly region south of the capital Sydney remains “out of
control,” according to the Rural Fire Service. It has burned 264,000 hectares (1,020 square miles) of land in recent months.

Weather conditions are deteriorating rapidly on Saturday,
with the country’s Bureau of Meteorology warning that winds are picking up and
temperatures increasing. “Today will be a day of severe to extreme fire
danger through many districts,” the bureau said.

The country’s capital, Canberra, smashed its heat record of 80 years, reaching 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday afternoon, according to the
meteorology bureau. In the western Sydney suburb of Penrith, the mercury
climbed to 48.9 degrees Celsius (120
degrees Fahrenheit) — setting a new record for the whole Sydney basin.

The death toll is rising as conditions worsen — Prime
Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday that 23 people
had been killed nationwide, up from 18 from earlier in the
week. More than 1,500 homes have also been destroyed since
the fire season began in September.

Victoria has declared a state of disaster and NSW has
declared a state of emergency — both granting extraordinary powers and
additional government resources to battle the fires.

It marked the first time Victoria has activated these powers
since the 2009 Black Saturday fires, the deadliest
bushfire disaster on record in Australia with 173 people
killed and 500 injured.

On Saturday, Morrison announced the deployment of up to 3,000 Australian Defense Force Reserve troops to affected
states. Four planes will also be leased by the government to provide water
bombing, while the navy’s largest ship, HMAS Adelaide, will be mobilized to
evacuate citizens along the coast.

“Today is about ensuring we deal with the urgent crisis that is existing across fire grounds in four states in particular, to ensure we’re giving everything that is needed on ground without being asked,” Morrison said at a press conference.