Thick black smoke billowing from infernos in Victoria and New South Wales states turned the morning sky pitch black or choked the coastline in a haunting red haze. “It’s been a truly awful day,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters, adding that the fire season was the worst in the state’s history. Almost four million hectares of forest and bushland have been destroyed in New South Wales alone. It’s also put international focus on the conservative government’s climate change policies, with environmentalists saying Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s support of the nation’s massive coal-export industry has worsened conditions. Across the state border in New South Wales, buildings in Batemans Bay caught fire as thousands sheltered on the beach and ash rained down on the picturesque beachside town of Merimbula.

Source: National Post December 31, 2019 13:41 UTC