AUSTRALIA: A number of Australian firefighters were yesterday airlifted to safety by "water-bombing" helicopters from the paths of two raging bush fires in New South Wales as relentless flames once again reached Sydney's wealthy northern suburbs.
The fire-fighters were taken to safety after being surrounded by rapidly-moving fronts of flames which, aided by strong winds, swept through the Blue Mountains region north-west of Sydney closing in on two townships late yesterday and threatening hundreds of homes.
The fires once again swept into north Sydney suburbs when a fresh blaze broke out at Pennant Hills just over a mile from where another fire on Tuesday damaged homes in Pennant Hills and nearby South Turramurra.
As on Tuesday, residents joined firefighters in an efforts to stop the flames from overwhelming their homes and last night no properties had been reported lost.
On the NSW south coast, where an estimated 20 homes were gutted late on Wednesday and 5,000 people evacuated, residents were leaving en masse last night as the fires swept through the region for a second night running.
The fires have now raged for 11 days, have claimed around 170 homes, and with continuing strong winds and high temperatures forecast for coming days, an end to the crisis does not appear imminent.
There are still an estimated 15,000 people fighting 100 fires around the state. The New Zealand government yesterday said it would fly firemen in to help exhausted Australian crews.
Arsonists are suspected of having started at least half of the fires and NSW police have now questioned over 20 people, most of whom are children.
Most at risk late yesterday were the Blue Mountain towns of Hazelbrook and Woodford just outside the region's main tourist hub of Katoomba. Major highways were closed and helicopters flew all day water-bombing the bush-land around properties.
Locally, firefighters said most of the countryside was now at the mercy of the flames and the direction and strength of the wind today and over the weekend.
"The temperatures were lower today but the winds were so strong the flames moved through some areas so fast that plenty of scrub was left untouched and it will all go up again if the flames are blown back," a part-time firefighter, Mr Nigel Hopkins, said.
"Without rain we are still talking about a very dangerous situation."
Rural Fire Service spokesman Mr John Winter said about 300 firefighters were stationed in the Blue Mountains area, but he added that the odds were stacked against them.
"Our priorities are, in order, life, property and other issues. Obviously this fire has taken a significant run under these wind conditions and there's no denying this is a difficult situation," he said.
Anger with the arsonists blamed for lighting many of the fires was rising yesterday, with Australians urging stiffer penalties for those whom some are calling "lucifers" and the country's "real terrorists".
"Black Christmas Fires, 21 Lucifers" was the front page headline of the Sydney tabloid the Daily Telegraph yesterday, with silhouettes of 21 males, one as young as nine, arrested for arson.
"These arsonists are Australia's real terrorists and it is now time that their activities meet a ruthless response," Malcolm Bunston wrote in the Canberra Times.
Arsonists in New South Wales face a maximum of 14 years jail. The NSW state premier, Mr Bob Carr, has likened the crisis to a war and his government has ordered two more US "Sky Crane" helicopters to be shipped to Sydney by Sunday.