Aerial bombardment of fires continues
1. Various of water bombing operation shot from inside helicopter 2. Aerial of billowing smoke 3. Navy helicopter pilots greeting firefighter 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sean Chipman, Firefighter: "Definitely and we had the truck repaired and were facing our escape route and we were prepared to roll up the hoses or drop the hoses and drive out." Q. "But once the helicopters came in what happened then? A. "Helos came in and definitely suppressed the fire and with the help of the Sea Kings, the Squirrel spotting it and the other aircraft around they managed to suppress the fire enough to reduce its intensity." 5. Various of New South Wales Police Commissioner Peter Ryan visiting firefighting headquarters STORYLINE: Firefighters continued extensive backburning operations on Wednesday night as they continued to get the upper hand against blazes that have devastated vast swathes of southeast Australian bushland. Cooler temperatures, higher humidity and low winds allowed firefighters on Thursday to assert control over many of the 80 fires which were still burning across the state of New South Wales. Since heavy rains on Monday extinguished bushfires in other areas, firefighters have concentrated on the blazes still burning in the south coast region where a 45-kilometre (28-mile) wall of fire threatened holiday towns. On Thursday three giant helitankers zeroed in on the south coast fires after spending the previous day with 13 other aircraft in a huge waterbombing campaign to help ground crews extinguish blazes in the Shoalhaven area. With the Rural Fire Service predicting extreme weather conditions for Friday, firefighters and residents in fire-affected areas remain on alert. While most blazes were burning within containment lines, the large Bulga and Yengo fires northwest of Sydney were expected to join up and could pose a threat to some semi-rural properties on Thursday, a spokesman for the rural fire service said. As the mopping up operation continues, firefighters will search for smouldering trees, twigs and branches to extinguish them and eliminate the possibility of flare-ups. With sub-surface fires able to burn for weeks in the roots of trees, authorities were remaining on high alert with 10,000 firefighters still on the frontline. The New South Wales government has estimated the cost of the fire-fighting operation topped 70 (m) million (Australian) dollars (35 (m) million (US) dollars) and insurers say claims will come to at least another 70 (m) million (Australian) dollars. Authorities say half the fires were started deliberately and have arrested 26 people, many of them minors, for arson. No lives have been lost in the crisis. Australia's most deadly bushfires were the "Ash Wednesday" blazes on February 16, 1983, when 72 people died in fires that swept across Victoria and parts of South Australia. Meanwhile, New South Wales Police Commissioner Peter Ryan has congratulated hundreds of police officers who have worked on the bushfire crisis, during his visit to the Shoalhaven area, South of Sydney. Ryan says there have been many acts of heroism by the police and he's asked for a list of individual acts of courage. You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1cd3205eb13248bfd74119d761fb31ab Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
