• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Australian Police Find Body After Fire

Posted on: Thursday, 18 January 2007, 06:00 CST

ADELAIDE, Australia - Police recovered a body Thursday from a house destroyed by a wildfire, as residents of a popular mountain resort town prepared their homes against an encroaching blaze, officials said.

Human remains were found inside a house razed by a grassfire overnight in the rural community of Willunga, south of the South Australia state capital, Adelaide, a police statement said.

The fire, which started late Wednesday, destroyed about 40 acres of grassland before it was contained.

Meanwhile, residents of the popular ski resort village of Thredbo, about 90 miles from the nation's capital, Canberra, were readying their homes for an approaching fire.

The blaze, which started in neighboring Victoria state, swept across the border late Wednesday, prompting authorities to evacuate about 700 visitors from recreation area. Residents were allowed to stay and protect their homes.

The state's Rural Fire Service spokeswoman, Rebel Talbert, said officials believed the fire might pass through Thredbo later Thursday.

"Hopefully, with the cooler conditions we've got, the fire will come through when it is much easier to control," she said.

In Victoria, where fires have destroyed more than 3,900 square miles of forest and farmland since the start of the southern hemisphere summer, light rains and cooler temperatures brought relief to thousands of firefighters ahead of hot weather expected later this week.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

More News in this Category