Australian bushfires destroy more than 2,600 homes

The bushfires burning across Australia have scorched more than 10 million hectares (~25 million acres) and destroyed more than 2,600 homes, according to catastrophe risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide. As of January 14, insurers have received 13,750 claims in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland from the November to January fires.

While the greatest fire threat is in rural areas, smoke has affected some of Australia’s largest cities, posing health risks, closing schools, and disrupting travel for about a third of Australia’s population.

Smoke has caused fire alarms in high-rise buildings across Sydney and Melbourne to go off and poor air quality has closed government offices in Canberra and suspended practice sessions at the Australia Open in Melbourne. Hospital admissions in smoke-affected cities have increased. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said the smoke from the fires is expected to circumnavigate the globe and has already reached South America.

On Friday, January 10, Australian authorities sent texts to 240,000 people in Victoria urging them to evacuate. Residents in high-risk areas of New South Wales and South Australia were also advised to quit their homes.

As of Friday, about 39 of the 158 fires burning in New South Wales were uncontained. Some 10 of the 21 fires burning in Victoria were at an emergency level; two fires burning on the border of Victoria and New South Wales had the potential to merge into one spanning more than 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres); and one of the nine fires burning in South Australia was at an emergency level. “Cooler temperatures and mild winds that began on Sunday, January 12, have enabled firefighters to turn from defence to offense for the first time in weeks,” said AIR Worldwide in a release. “Efforts include removing small trees and burning scrub ahead of the projected fire path. These weather conditions are expected to continue throughout the week, although future increases in temperature and wind could cause more flare-ups."
The favourable weather conditions contributed to gaining control of the large fire in Gospers Mountain, northwest of Sydney, that has burned more than 512,000 hectares. A bushfire in Anketell, about 35 km south of Perth—close to the still-active fire that originated in Baldivis last week and has burned through more than 1,300 hectares—was also downgraded but was still out of control and moving north-northeast.
In its Annual Climate Statement 2019, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said that 2019 was the country’s warmest year on record, with an annual national mean temperature 1.52°C above average. The annual national mean maximum temperature was also above average at 2.09°C, making it the warmest on record. National average rainfall was 40 percent below average at 277.6 mm, making 2019 Australia’s driest year on record. These conditions contributed to the highest national annual accumulated Forest Fire Index since 1950, when records began.
AIR said it will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.