Stuart_Shaw/iStock(NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia) — All bushfires in New South Wales, Australia are contained for the first time since this fire season began in September 2019, the state’s fire agency reported Thursday.
Rob Rogers, the deputy commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Service, called the development “great news” after a “truly devastating season for both firefighters and residents who suffered through so much.”
Rogers said “we can really focus on helping people rebuild.”
In what has been a very traumatic, exhausting and anxious bush fire season so far, for the first time this season all bush and grass fires in NSW are now contained.
It has taken a lot of work by firefighters, emergency services and communities to get to this point. #nswrfs pic.twitter.com/RhqmcYhJ1j— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) February 13, 2020
New South Wales was particularly ravaged by the fires, with more than 13 million acres burned and nearly 2,500 homes destroyed, according to the fire agency. At least 25 people were killed across the country, according to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The blazes began about three months before the fire season typically starts in Australia.
Rainfall helped put out some of the fires, though major flooding and severe thunderstorms have now created problems of their own in the state, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
As for the economic damage, insurance claims reached $485 million in early January, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.
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