Smoke From Distant Brushfires Delays Flights, Sets Off Smoke Alarms In Melbourne - Reuters

[hatrack]

SYDNEY - Smoke from bushfires burning hundreds of kilometres away blanketed Australia's second largest city Melbourne on Saturday, delaying flights and setting off fire alarms at the city's airport.

Water-bombing aircraft intended to help contain some of the 24 bushfires burning out of control in the southern state of Victoria were grounded because of the thick smoke. Ambulance officials urged people with respiratory problems such as asthma to stay indoors and aviation officials warned pilots that visibility was down to five kilometres (three miles). "The conditions for today with all the smoke in the atmosphere are absolutely terrible for people with asthma. It is imperative that they stay inside," said an ambulance official.

The bushfires, most sparked by lightning strikes, have blackened almost 180,000 hectares (450,000 acres) of land, mostly in rugged, inaccessible mountains in the northeast of the state. Firefighters fear the fires could sweep through some small country towns in Victoria's highlands on Sunday as northerly winds pick up strength ahead of a forecast cool change.

Blazes stretching 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the central King Valley to the Victorian coast could destroy more than 600,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) in coming days as fires merge in the face of strong northerly winds, authorities have said.

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