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Tasmania wildfires force thousands to flee Australia wildfires: Thousands stranded in Tasmania
(about 4 hours later)
Wildfires on the Australian island of Tasmania have forced thousands of people to flee and destroyed at least 80 homes. Wildfires on the Australian island of Tasmania have stranded thousands of people and destroyed at least 100 homes.
Much of Australia is experiencing a heatwave, and temperatures in the Tasmanian state capital Hobart earlier reached a record high of 41C.Much of Australia is experiencing a heatwave, and temperatures in the Tasmanian state capital Hobart earlier reached a record high of 41C.
Some took shelter on beaches on the Tasman peninsula, from where hundreds were rescued by boat. Some took shelter on beaches on the Tasman Peninsula, which remains cut off.
Fire crews have also been battling blazes on mainland Australia. A flotilla has brought in supplies and hundreds have been evacuated by sea.
In Tasmania, some 40 separate fires were burning across the island, despite temperatures falling back from their peak. The BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says large swathes of south-east Australia are suffering from the worst fire conditions since the Black Saturday disaster almost four years ago, when 173 people in rural Victoria lost their lives.
"While those fires did abate, they're still doing a bit of damage," Tasmania Fire Service spokesman John Holloway told ABC TV. He says there has been a combination of a record-breaking heatwave, high winds and drought, with Tasmania by far the worst hit.
The 80 homes were destroyed in the community of Dunalley, east of Hobart. 'Engulfed'
Police were investigating reports that one man was missing after a fire crew was trapped by the blaze. On the island, some 40 separate fires are burning - four of them out of control - despite temperatures falling back from their peak.
"They had to take shelter in their vehicle as the fire burned over their vehicle," said acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard. At least 100 properties have been destroyed, a large number in the small community of Dunalley, east of Hobart, where the police station and school were burned down.
"They were, from that location as I understand it, able to see a gentlemen who was trying to protect his property and they couldn't get to him, it was too unsafe." One resident of Dunalley told ABC radio: "All I could do was drive the car out of the shed, drive across the other side of the road and stand back and look at the whole place just being engulfed in flames, just like a movie."
Wildfires are common in Australia. In 2009, fires in rural Victoria state killed more than 170 people and destroyed some 2,000 homes. The main road to the Tasman Peninsula, south-east of Hobart, has been cut off, stranding thousands of people, many of them tourists in the historic site of Port Arthur.
Some people sought refuge on the beaches.
A flotilla of local vessels has been used to bring in essential supplies and evacuate those deemed most at risk.
Acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard said it had been ''a long night for many people but the main thing is that they have been safe".
Chief Officer Mike Brown, of the Tasmanian Fire Service, said: "Clearly, it's going to take a long time and a lot of work to properly contain these fires."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged people to look after their personal safety.
She told ABC: ''My message is there's only one you. Everything else in life, at the end of the day, no matter how precious, can be replaced."
She added: "It's a very Australian thing to fear and also to understand the devastation of bushfire."
Much of southern Australia remains under intense heat.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a German woman died while walking in 40 degree temperatures in Cape Otway, Victoria.