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Australia's Perth battles bushfire amid virus lockdown

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/reuters/01/04/20210104-australia-bushfires-rtr.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>A resident uses a garden hose to wet down the house as high winds push smoke and ash from the Currowan Fire towards Nowra, New South Wales, Australia January 4, 2020. Tracey Nearmy, Reuters/file</figcaption></figure></div><p><br/>PERTH - A wildfire on the fringes of Australia&#x27;s fourth-largest city Perth has destroyed several homes and forced emergency evacuations, authorities said Tuesday, just days after the west coast city entered a coronavirus lockdown.</p><p>Firefighters are battling the out-of-control bushfire on the city&#x27;s eastern fringes, where several properties are ablaze and several fields have been blackened.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/02/01/21/2-million-australians-in-lockdown-after-one-coronavirus-case-found">2 million Australians in lockdown after one coronavirus case found</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/04/21/australian-lives-and-homes-at-risk-as-fire-nears-perth">Australian &#x27;lives and homes&#x27; at risk as fire nears Perth</a></li></ul><p>Smoke from the fires sent ash falling in the Perth city center, around 30 kilometers away.</p><p>Firefighters were said to be working in &quot;extremely volatile&quot; conditions with temperatures set to hit 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit).</p><p>&quot;The fire is currently 7,000 hectares in size with the perimeter of around 75 kilometers,&quot; Department of Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Craig Waters told media.</p><p>Strong winds overnight forced significant numbers of residents to flee with hundreds expected at evacuation centers, Waters said.</p><p>Locals said they were woken by emergency alerts in the earlier hours of Tuesday. </p><p>&quot;I think it was around 3am, we were standing from our balcony in The Vines and we could see the fire over the hill coming closer,&quot; a woman at an evacuation center told the ABC.</p><p>Although crews were still assessing the damage, local mayor Kevin Bailey told national broadcaster ABC at least 30 homes were damaged.</p><p>One firefighter was recovering in hospital from smoke inhalation but there were no other reports of injuries, Bailey said.</p><p>The news comes as Perth entered its second full day of a five-day lockdown after a security guard at a quarantine hotel tested positive for COVID-19.</p><p>&quot;Right now, WA is battling two different kinds of emergencies, a dangerous fire emergency and a Covid-19 lockdown emergency,&quot; Premier Mark McGowan told media.</p><p>Under the lockdown, around two million residents of the city, along with residents of nearby Peel and South-West regions, must stay at home.</p><p>Authorities believe the guard contracted the UK-strain of Covid-19 from a returned traveler quarantining in a hotel in Perth.</p><p>The UK variant is among several new strains believed to be more contagious.</p><p>Western Australia was spared the brunt of Australia&#x27;s devastating 2019-2020 climate change-fueled wildfires, which mostly ravaged the country&#x27;s two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KnzmYtDtz80?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>A wildfire on the fringes of Australia's fourth-largest city Perth has destroyed several homes and forced emergency evacuations, authorities said Tuesday, just days after the west coast city entered a coronavirus lockdown.<br /> </p>

A wildfire on the fringes of Australia's fourth-largest city Perth has destroyed several homes and forced emergency evacuations, authorities said Tuesday, just days after the west coast city entered a coronavirus lockdown.