Coal mine, power station under threat from bushfire in Australia

Time:2019-12-18 09:14:20      Source:ChinaDaily.com

Fire authorities in Australia are locked in a desperate battle to save a coal mine and a power station on Tuesday, that has come under threat from a massive bushfire northwest of Sydney which local media dubbed the "mega-blaze."

Already burning through 400,000 hectares of vegetation at Gospers Mountain and the Wollemi National Park, there are now fears the wildfire could spread even further with temperatures in the area expected to reach 46 degrees Celsius in coming days as an extreme heatwave bears down on the nation's east coast.

"The heatwave that is coming across the country... add that to strong winds and you've got the worst possible circumstances," New South Wales (NSW) State Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told press.

Describing the next five days as the most dangerous the state has seen for "quite some time," Fitzsimmons warned residents in surrounding areas to stay vigilant.

"People need to make sure they take responsibility for their own safety," he said.

"The danger that is facing this community, both here in the Hawkesbury, and indeed the north of the state and the Wollondilly should never be underestimated."

With the bushfire roaring towards the Mount Piper Power Station, which generates around 10 percent of the state's electricity, fire crews worked tirelessly to protect the facility overnight.

Elsewhere, emergency personnel scrambled to avoid an environmental disaster as burning embers made their way into the Springvale coal mine.

If stockpiles of the commodity were to catch fire, environmental agency Greenpeace Australia Pacific warned it could take weeks to put out the toxic fumes which would pour over Sydney's skies.

According to Centennial Coal, however, the company has reassured the public its stockpiles of coal are well protected behind containment lines.

"A lot of crews were deployed near that power station just to make sure the fire did not get into the coal," RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said.

"We will have crews there today monitoring that condition just to make sure we do not have any problem fire starting."

Meanwhile, a group of 29 former emergency services bosses have blasted Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government's response to the ongoing crisis, telling reporters there needs to be a national summit to address the unprecedented impact that climate change is having on bushfires.

Since the start of Australia's wildfire season, a total of six people have died and around 720 homes have been lost, along with approximately 1,600 other structures.

Accusing Morrison, who is currently on holiday in Hawaii, of "missing in action," former NSW Fire and Rescue Chief and member of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group, Greg Mullins, said the government needs to do more.

"Climate change is driving this problem to a place where you simply can't deal with it," he said

"What we feel is that there's still this denial of the problem and where we have denial of the problem, there's not going to be any action."

"So we'll go it alone. We'll arrange a national summit that will look at building standards, fuel management practices, response capability and national coordination arrangements."

Index RMB/t DoD Basis Date
Datong 5500 700 0 ex-mine 05-04
Shuozhou 5200 680 0 FOR 05-04
Ordos 5500 700 0 ex-mine 05-04
Yulin 6200 780 0 ex-mine 05-04
Liulin Low-sulphur 900 0 ex-mine 05-04
Gujiao Low-sulphur 1770 -50 FOR 05-04
Xingtai Low-sulphur 2360 0 ex-Factory 05-04
Yangquan PCI 1280 -30 FOR 05-04
Index RMB/t WoW WoW% Date
Qinhuangdao 507.0 1.0 0.20 05-04
Caofeidian 541.0 9.0 1.69 05-04
Huanghua 216.9 12.4 6.06 05-04
Guangzhou 291.2 3.0 1.04 04-27
coastal 6PPs 1629.8 44.7 2.82 07-02
North Ports 2697.8 53.0 2.00 02-01
Yangtze River delta 1242.5 -74.7 -5.67 02-01
South Ports 2233.4 -216.0 -8.82 02-01
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