Bushfires are common in Australia but they mostly flare in the south-eastern states of New South Wales and Victoria, where summers can be hot and dry. Since 22 November, more than 1m hectares has been burnt across Queensland, much of which lies in the tropics. On the day the fires took off, Michelle Ready said there was a feeling in the air of “everything crisping up”. “Areas we traditionally rely on to stop fires progressing from one valley to another were not reliable,” he said. He said 121,000ha around Eungella and Finch Hatton had been lost, including parts of the rainforest as well as dry bushland.

Source: The Guardian December 09, 2018 13:31 UTC