Death Toll Rises in Australia’s East Coast Bushfires

Australian authorities say a fourth person has died in a week of massive bushfires on the nation’s east coast.

The 58-year-old man’s body was found in northern New South Wales (NSW) on Thursday, days after a fire ripped through the region.

Crews are still battling over 120 fires in NSW and Queensland, but locals in Western Australia have now been warned of extremely dangerous conditions.

Police charged a 16-year-old boy with deliberately starting a damaging fire.

Queensland Police said the alleged arson had destroyed 14 homes around the town of Yeppoon, 650km north of Brisbane.

Bush fire
80 trading 24 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Fire chiefs have warned the worst of the summer is “still ahead of us”, after expressing alarm at the scale and severity of the spring bushfires.

A coalition of former fire chiefs on Thursday accused the government of ignoring their warnings about climate change and its potential to exacerbate fire emergencies.

A former chief fire officer in Tasmania, Mike brown said; “Things aren’t going to get better if our elected leaders don’t face this issue head on, and deliver the emissions reductions we need,”

Paul Ayorinde

Written by BoomRadioNG