Our Nation Burns

  • 6 January 2020

Fires are burning out of control across five states as temperature records are being smashed and lives and properties being lost.  Kangaroo Island, in remote South Australia became the latest to suffer two more bushfire deaths bringing to 23 the number of people killed in fires across Australia this fire season. Six people are still missing in fire-affected regions across NSW and Victoria, who have had their east coasts devastated by out-of-control fires in rugged terrain that have destroyed more than 1,500 homes. There are also current fire warnings in Tasmania and Western Australia. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. The land mass burned is now above 5 million hectares – an area larger than Denmark. Our state agency firefighters are battling heat and exhaustion and some have lost their own homes while away defending others.