The warning: “Too late to leave”

Wildfires

Wildfires rage in Australia: “Too late to leave”

Albin Almqvist

Updated 12.58 | Published 12.54

 

Residents can’t escape, the fire is too close. Photo: Dfes

Major fires are raging in Western Australia.

But residents can’t escape the flames – instead, they should seek shelter in their homes.

“It’s too late to leave,” reads the warning from the authorities.

High summer has arrived in Australia. The temperature around the city of Perth has ticked up a bit above 40 degrees in recent days and several large wildfires have broken out in the area.

The flames are spreading quickly, due to strong winds, and on Christmas Day the fires covered 1,700 hectares, the equivalent of 2,400 football pitches, local reports media.

Several smaller towns in the area are now without power. In the towns of Boddington and Williams, thousands of households were without power on Christmas Day, ABC News reports.

A massive evacuation effort is now underway. Local hospitals have been emptied of patients, and more than 300 miners in a gold mine in the area are preparing to leave.

– The fire is very close now, a miner tells ABC News.

“Too late to leave”

At the same time, local authorities are issuing warnings to residents in the area. The local news site Perth Now writes that the warning sent out to residents on Christmas Day reads:

“You are in danger and must act immediately to survive. There is a direct threat to life and property.”

However, authorities stress that it is too late for those closest to the fires to evacuate. Travelling while the fires are raging is considered a danger to life. Instead, residents are being asked to find a room in their home where they can isolate themselves while waiting for the fires to be extinguished.

The room should ideally have access to running water and a way to evacuate via, if necessary.

  

  

A video from the local authorities shows the fires from the air.

1 / 4Photo: Dfes