美国有线新闻 CNN 澳大利亚新南威尔士州遭遇灾难性山火

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New South Wales is where you'll find Sydney, the Australian capital and largest city in the country. It's also where dozens of bushfires are burning up land and homes.

A New South Wales Rural Fire Service said yesterday that 70 fires were burning and that half of them hadn't been contained yet, meaning they weren't blocked in and prevented from spreading. Several people have died in the fires.

More than 1,000 firefighters are trying to put out the blazes¹, and a fire official says 100 or more homes might have been destroyed so far. Witnesses have posted pictures of bright orange skies.

Intense wildfires a?re capable of causing their own weather, and the fire service says that's what's happening in some parts of New South Wales where fire clouds were developing. These can produce their own lightning without rain.

Officials say the state's under tinder box-like conditions and that all it takes is one spark to start a fire that can burn for days. Major roads and highways have been closed. Several schools have been closed.

Evacuations have been ordered in the state of Queensland, which borders New South Wales to the north. Both of these states are prone² to wildfires in the spring, which it is right now in the Southern Hemisphere³. And firefighters are predicting catastrophic fire danger for areas around Sydney this Tuesday.