“到處都是紅色”:澳大利亞的大火困住了海灘上的居民
In the small coastal Australian town of Mallacoota, an out-of-control wildfire on New Year's Eve morning forced some 4.000 people to flee to the water during one of the country's most destructive fire seasons in recent memory.
在澳大利亞沿海小鎮(zhèn)馬拉庫(kù)塔,新年前夜的一個(gè)早晨,一場(chǎng)失控的野火迫使約4000人逃到水里,這是近年來(lái)該國(guó)最具破壞性的火災(zāi)季節(jié)之一。
Alex White, a reporter for the Herald Sun, told NPR that Mallacoota is popular among tourists and fishermen. The extreme conditions threatened all the roads out of town.
《先驅(qū)太陽(yáng)報(bào)》的記者亞歷克斯·懷特告訴美國(guó)國(guó)家公共電臺(tái),馬拉庫(kù)塔(小鎮(zhèn))在游客和漁民中很受歡迎。極端的條件威脅著所有出城的道路。
"When there was a really dramatic wind change at about 4 a.m., it swept close to the town and actually burned some buildings in the town, and everyone had to evacuate down to the beach," she said. "There were reports of embers the size of mobile phones falling on people, smoke everywhere."
“凌晨4點(diǎn)左右,風(fēng)向發(fā)生了劇烈變化。她說:“颶風(fēng)‘桑迪’席卷了小鎮(zhèn)附近,燒毀了小鎮(zhèn)上的一些建筑,所有人都被疏散到海灘。”“有報(bào)道稱有手機(jī)大小的火苗落在人們身上,到處都是煙霧。”
Fisherman Steve Casement, a Mallacoota resident, told Reuters that he lost his house to the fires. "We are stuck here now," he said. "Everyone is pretty shocked at the moment, most of my mates are in the same position. ... Right now, I am on a trailer watching the town burn down, listening to gas bottles explode at some poor bugger's home and seeing smoke all around me."
漁民史蒂夫·凱斯門特是馬拉庫(kù)塔的居民,他告訴路透社記者,他的房子被大火燒毀了。“我們現(xiàn)在被困在這里,”他說。“每個(gè)人此刻都很震驚,我的大多數(shù)同伴都處于同樣的處境?,F(xiàn)在,我在一輛拖車上看著城鎮(zhèn)被燒毀,聽著汽油瓶在某個(gè)可憐的家伙家里爆炸,看著我周圍的煙霧。”
Photos from Mallacoota show people on boats and wearing masks as the sky glows bright red. "This is really scary now, it's just red, everywhere," a Facebook user at the scene is quoted as saying by Australia's ABC. "The wind is intermittently howling, which brings more embers."
馬拉庫(kù)塔的照片顯示,人們?cè)诖?,戴著面具,天空一片通紅。“現(xiàn)在真的很可怕,到處都是紅色,”澳大利亞廣播公司(ABC)援引現(xiàn)場(chǎng)一位臉書用戶的話說。“風(fēng)斷斷續(xù)續(xù)地咆哮著,這就會(huì)帶來(lái)更多的火苗。”
Eventually, a change in wind direction moved the most serious fires away from the town. "I understand there was a public cheer down at the jetty when that was announced," local fire chief Steve Warrington told the BBC. The extent of the damage is not totally clear, though Warrington is quoted as saying there may be "significant property losses."
最終,風(fēng)向的改變使得最嚴(yán)重的火災(zāi)遠(yuǎn)離了小鎮(zhèn)。當(dāng)?shù)叵狸?duì)長(zhǎng)史蒂夫·沃林頓告訴BBC:“我知道當(dāng)消息公布時(shí),碼頭上一片歡呼。”盡管沃林頓表示可能會(huì)有“重大的財(cái)產(chǎn)損失”,但損失的程度還不完全清楚。
Australian military helicopters and an airplane were deployed to assist in the firefighting efforts in the state of Victoria, where Mallacoota is located, Australian Minister for Defense Linda Reynolds stated on Twitter. In New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, authorities said early Wednesday morning, that three men had been killed in the bushfires along the state's South Coast.
澳大利亞國(guó)防部長(zhǎng)琳達(dá)·雷諾茲在推特上表示,澳大利亞出動(dòng)了軍用直升機(jī)和一架飛機(jī),以協(xié)助馬拉庫(kù)塔所在的維多利亞州的滅火工作。澳大利亞人口最多的州新南威爾士州有關(guān)部門周三早間說,該州南部海岸的叢林大火已造成三名男子死亡。
At about 7.30 a.m. local time, officers from South Coast Police District were informed the body of a man had been found in a burned-out car on the road near Lake Conjola.
當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間早上7點(diǎn)30分左右,南海岸警察局接到通知,在康約拉湖附近的公路上,在一輛燒毀的汽車中發(fā)現(xiàn)一名男子的尸體。
The man has not been formally identified.
這名男子的身份尚未得到正式確認(rèn)。
Two other men — a 63-year-old and his 29-year-old son – died after remaining behind to defend their farm.
另外兩名男子——一名63歲的男子和他29歲的兒子——在留下來(lái)保衛(wèi)他們的農(nóng)場(chǎng)后死亡。
A fourth man, 72. remains unaccounted for.
第四名男子,72歲,仍然下落不明。
Shortly after midnight on New Year's Day, authorities in New South Wales said that there were 112 fires burning and 2.500 firefighters working in the state.
元旦午夜過后不久,新南威爾士州當(dāng)局表示,該州有112處火災(zāi),2500名消防員在工作。