Monday 20 January 2003 Australian bush fires  | Authorities in the Australian capital Canberra have been accused of not doing enough to protect the city from bush fires that have killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes. Emergency crews have said they've contained the outbreaks that tore through the city's suburban fringes over the weekend. This report from Phil Mercer: |
 Listen to the story With Canberra's bush fire crisis now easing, the authorities are facing tough questions about just how prepared they were for the city's worst ever natural disaster. Residents who found themselves on the frontline have suggested the fire-storm simply took emergency crews by surprise. Weather forecasters said they warned of extreme conditions in the days leading up to the weekend's devastation. A full-scale investigation into the Canberra fires is being considered. The capital's chief minister, John Stanhope, has admitted fire crews simply couldn't cope. He said bitter lessons would be learnt. The New South Wales fire service commissioner, Phil Koperberg, has defended the emergency response. He said crews had been confronted by the most ferocious outbreaks ever seen in Australia, and to contain them was impossible. The fires were sparked by lightning. They raced through suburban streets, engulfing and destroying more than four hundred homes. A coronial enquiry will look into the deaths of the victims. Wild-fires continue to cause chaos elsewhere in south-eastern Australia; vast swathes of the Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales have been reduced to ash. There's a similar picture in Victoria, where dozens of fire-fronts continued to advance through inaccessible mountain regions. This is already Australia's longest-ever bush fire season, and officials have said there's no end in sight.
Phil Mercer, BBC, Sydney
Listen to the words bush fire a fire which starts in the bush (wild, uncultivated land) easing if an unpleasant situation eases, whatever is causing the difficulty lessens fire-storm this happens when hot air rises and more air rushes in to take its place making the fire uncontrollable emergency crews people working on emergency vehicles (police, fire, ambulance) bitter lessons would be learnt the anger they felt would make them prepare better for the future defended the emergency response said the emergency services had reacted well Wild-fires fires which spread very quickly vast swathes long strips of land reduced to ash all that was left was a grey powder fire-fronts the line between what is on fire and what isn't  Read more about this story | |  | | | SEARCH IN LEARNING ENGLISH | | | |
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