TENS of thousands of people in the path of raging bush fires in Australia have been ordered to leave the danger zones – as the death toll rose to 18.
As temperatures soar to 46C this weekend, New South Wales fire chiefs warned tourists and locals on the coast south of Sydney: “Do not be in this area on Saturday”.
The premier of New South Wales has declared a state of emergency after the devastation of more than 200 fires this week.
And experts warned it could get worse as a heatwave hit on Saturday, when the suburbs of Sydney could be threatened by the inferno.
Huge areas between Bateman’s Bridge and the border with Victoria state have been ruled “unsafe”, sparking monster traffic jams as thousands flee for their lives through choking smoke.
Transport minister Andrew Constance described the situation as the “largest mass relocation of people out of the region that we’ve ever seen”.
He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp: “We are going to face a worse day on Saturday than what we have been through.”
NSW Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said: “There is every potential that the conditions on Saturday will be as bad or worse than we saw (on Tuesday).”
Already supermarket shelves are empty and petrol pumps have run dry downed trees and power lines cut off supply routes.
Military ships and helicopters are being deployed to the worst-hit areas amid warnings Australia faces a “humanitarian crisis” with shortages of food and water.
Tens of thousands of homes are without electricity in the state and telephone and internet connections are down.
Some communities have been told to boil water for drinking.
In neighbouring Victoria, 4,000 people are still stranded at Mallacoota in East Gippsland after their escape route was cut off by fire.
Naval ship HMAS Choules arrived yesterday and can carry 700 people. Others may be flown to safety by helicopter.
Meanwhile today Aussie PM Scott Morrison was forced to retreat into his limo after residents of a devastated town hurled abuse at him.
He went to visit Cobargo in New South Wales – where a father and son died on New year’s Eve – but one woman refused to shake his hand and said: “You’re an idiot”.
The PM was heavily criticised for jetting on holiday to Hawaii despite the fires – then defending it by saying: “I don’t hold a hose, mate”.
Since the bush fire season started at least 18 people have died and 17 are missing.
The toll includes seven who died in 24 hours on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Fifteen of the dead are in New South Wales including three firefighters.
Today colleagues gave a guard of honour at the funeral of volunteer fireman Geofrey Keaton, 32, who died near tackling a blaze Sydney on December 19.
Heartbreaking images showed his young son – still with a dummy in his mouth – receiving a bravery medal on behalf of his hero dad.
More than 1,200 homes have been destroyed and 12 million acres of land have been burned. Millions of animals are feared to have died including 8,000 koalas
More than 2,500 firefighters worked through New Year’s Day in an effort to beat the flames as skies turned red over southern Australia.
The smoke also darkened skies in New Zealand after blowing hundreds of miles across the Tasman Sea.
Australian officials have warned that the worst is far from over.
New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said: “Weather conditions on Saturday will be as bad as they were.”
Victoria emergency commissioner Andrew Crisp said: “We have three months of hot weather to come.
“We do have a dynamic and a dangerous fire situation across the state.”
A house under threat from an approaching bush fire in Conjola
A Nasa satellite image shows smoke clouds stretching hundreds of miles across the Tasman Sea
