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Nineteen people have been confirmed dead since the country’s unprecedented bushfires began, with eight killed in the state of New South Wales since Monday. Over 11 million acres have been burned and 1,400 homes destroyed, with people in affected areas lining up for dwindling food, water, and fuel supplies.
Hundreds left stranded by the fires are being evacuated by sea and air, while road closures hinder those attempting to flee by land. Cities are choking in smoke over 10 or 20 times hazardous levels, the plumes so large they’re also smothering New Zealand 1,200 miles away. Experts believe almost half a billion animals are dead.
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It’s a disaster of unfathomable scale, and Australians are begging for help.
One hundred U.S. firefighters and two liaison officers are travelling to Australia this week to offer assistance during the crisis. Ten more are travelling from Canada, with 22 New Zealanders joining the 179 already there. But even if you aren’t trained emergency personnel, there are still ways for you to lend a hand.
Crews monitor fires and begin back burns between the towns of Orbost and Lakes Entrance in east Gippsland on Jan. 2. Credit: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images How to help fight the fires
Australia’s volunteer fire services are under severe strain, particularly in the hardest hit east coast states of NSW and Victoria. Many NSW volunteers have been working for over 100 days without compensation, swallowing out-of-pocket expenses such as food and fuel.
"A big issue with the volunteer service is how long they can continue to do this as the season stretches into weeks and months," NSW Rural Fire Service volunteer Peter Holding told ABC News. The NSW RFS is the largest volunteer firefighting force in the world, consisting of over 70,000 volunteers.
Some volunteers resorted to crowdfunding in December, claiming the masks provided by the RFS were insufficient considering the unprecedented scale of the fires. The RFS disputed this claim, but the fact remains that Australia's volunteer firefighters are desperate for more support.
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For those who want to help, the NSW RFS is accepting credit card donations on its website, as well as direct deposits and mailed cheques or money orders. Donors giving via the website can mark their donation for a specific local brigade, or give to the RFS generally.
Volunteer firefighters in Victoria’s Country Fire Authority also accept donations via direct deposit, with donors able to allocate funds to a specific local brigade or the CFA Public Fund.
South Australia’s Country Fire Service collects credit card donations on their website. The CFS provides financial assistance to volunteer firefighters in the state, where two people have died in the bushfires.
The Queensland government has partnered with nonprofit GIVIT to collect donations via credit card and PayPal on its website, as well as direct deposits.
Meanwhile, the Australian Red Cross is accepting donations via their website to help bushfire victims across Australia recover. Funds will go toward emergency assistance such as evacuation centre support, psychological first aid, and cash grants, as well as longer-term recovery efforts, support for volunteers, and disaster preparedness.
Fire and Rescue personal prepare to attempt to extinguish a bushfire near the town of Bilpin on Dec. 19. Credit: David Gray / Getty Images Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison finally acquiesced to widespread calls to pay volunteer firefighters on Sunday, announcing a new scheme allowing NSW volunteers to claim up to $6,000 in compensation. This follows an announcement on Dec. 24 that volunteers who are federal employees will receive four weeks of paid leave.
The scheme will also be available to those in other areas at the request of local state governments, an offer Queensland has already taken up. However, payments will only be available to people who have been called out for more than 10 days, and who are either self-employed or working for a small to medium-sized business.
SEE ALSO: Thousands told to jump into the ocean as Australia's raging fires approachedMorrison has been widely criticised throughout Australia for his handling of the bushfire crisis, even by members of his own party. On top of dismissing calls to compensate volunteers because they “want to be there,” the prime minister has refused to meet concerned fire chiefs since April and will not review Australia’s climate change policy.
Australians have further lambasted Morrison for taking a family holiday to Hawaii during the crisis, as well as his remarkably tonedeaf statement on New Year’s Day that Australians suffering through the fires will be "inspired by the great feats of our cricketers."
Angry residents of the NSW town of Cobargo confronted Morrison during his tour of the fire-affected area on Thursday, refusing to shake his hand and demanding he do more to help. A 63-year-old man and his 29-year-old son were killed by fires just 6 miles from the town on New Year’s Eve.
NSW has declared its third state of emergency since fires began — the seventh since 2006. Victoria has announced a state of disaster for the first time ever, under powers introduced after devastating fires which killed over 170 people in 2009.
Firefighters are bracing for extremely hazardous fire conditions on Saturday, with temperatures in some parts of NSW expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit). Thousands across NSW and Victoria have been urged to evacuate immediately, with up to 100,000 people told to leave their homes in Victoria alone.
"We're undertaking the largest relocation of people out of the region in history, right now," NSW Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance told the Sydney Morning Herald. "We need people to listen, respond, and get out."
SEE ALSO: Australia just had its hottest day ever... two days in a rowAustralia’s bushfires have been fuelled by lack of rain, strong winds, and record-breaking heat, turning this fire season into Australia’s worst on record. Though the country experiences some bushfires every year, these conditions brought about by climate change have exacerbated them to catastrophic levels.
“[T]he link between the current extremes and anthropogenic climate change is scientifically undisputable,” Dr. Nerilie Abram wrote in Scientific American.
“Climate change is making Australian wildfires larger and more frequent because of its effects on dryness and fire weather.”
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