The bushfires in Australia have been raging for close to three months now and there is no sign of the fires dying down anytime soon. Firefighters working day and night to extinguish the fires have been left exhausted. Many of them have even lost their lives. Towns have been evacuated to safe spaces and water supply has been cut off in a few villages. There is no clean air even to breathe in many parts of the country.
Adding to this grim scenario, the bushfires have now come dangerously close to the Australian capital Canberra. Many residents have clicked pictures of burning forests from a distance and shared them on their social media handles. The images show thick smoke billowing into the sky. The fires are getting closer and closer with every passing minute.
Firefighters are already on the scene
The latest update is that firefighters are already on the scene and are working to extinguish the fires close to Canberra. The estimated total fire size is now 8,106 hectares. Wind gusts of 45km/h might make the fires spread within a matter of hours.
The fires are close to Tharwa Village, north of Spring Station Creek. The ACT Emergency Services Agency sent out a warning on their Facebook page to all residents in capital letters saying ''SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY'' along with other precautions such as ''Locate important documents, emergency kit, medication, animals, and family members''.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Rebecca Tamitakahara told ABC news: ''We are still seeing those gusty winds for an hour or so following the change, but we are then expecting to see those conditions ease back. Temperatures are expected to drop to the early 20s, and they are expected to drop further into the night, into the teens. We do have another cold front approaching NSW and the ACT later this week and this weekend. What that means is we will see those warm temperatures persist and get even hotter, particularly on Friday and Saturday.''
