(Sydney) Smoke linked to forest fires, ignited by firefighters before the fire season which promises to be intense, invaded the famous harbor of Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, on Wednesday morning.
Controlled fires were burning on the outskirts of Sydney and air pollution in parts of the city was comparable to that of Beijing or New Delhi.
Residents were asked to close their windows and stay at home as much as possible.
The smoke is caused by fires set by firefighters to reduce the fuel load ahead of the summer season on the wooded outskirts of Sydney.
NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd said about 30,000 hectares of undergrowth have been burned in the state since the start of July.
“It’s fair to say that after two or three very wet years, the risk of wildfires has returned to New South Wales,” he said.
PHOTO STEVE CHRISTO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Authorities have predicted that the fire season will be the most intense in Australia since the “black summer” of 2019-2020, when huge out-of-control fires raged on the east coast of the huge island continent.
Authorities have predicted that the fire season will be the most intense in Australia since the “black summer” of 2019-2020, when huge out-of-control fires raged on the east coast of the huge island continent.
Since then, conditions have been unusually wet, which has helped make trees grow faster, increasing the amount of potential fuel to fuel fires.
According to the Australian National Weather Bureau, the southern summer is expected to be “hotter and drier than average”. He recently confirmed that the country had experienced the warmest winter on record.