Neighboring Countries Request Assistance To Fight Fires In Australia

JAKARTA - Australia's skies are no longer as blue as they were before, since the fires that hit the country in early September 2019. Now the sky of the land of kangaroos is flushed and bright red due to forest fires.

The flushed skies made it the worst situation in Australian history. Even a photo taken from New South Wales shows a terrifying view of the city.

Not only filled with smoke, the streets were lonely and only lit by a red and burning sky. Meanwhile in Sydney and Brisbane, the smog has also deteriorated air quality, affecting the health of the population.

Australia's neighboring countries are also helping to fight fires in Queensland and New South Wales. New Zealand has even assigned 157 firefighters to extinguish the fires that have spread in a number of areas since October 2019.

New Zealand's Defense Minister, Ron Mark, said that high-volume assistance was urgently needed because the flames were showing no sign of abating. In addition, thousands of communities around the area are increasingly in danger.

Reporting from The Guardian, Monday, January 6, 2020, the aid team from New Zealand will be deployed at the Edinburgh defense base in Adelaide, South Australia. It is anticipated that the New Zealand military group will assist Australia at least until the end of January.

"This is not the only thing we can do to help and we are ready to continue talking to our neighbors," New Zealand Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern said on her Facebook page.

Not only New Zealand, Papua New Guinea also offers assistance by deploying 1,000 soldiers and firefighters from their country to be dispatched to Australia. Papua New Guinea PM Marape said he had coordinated with Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his assistance.

"Australia is Papua New Guinea's closest friend and has always been the first in our difficult times and we offer our hearts and hands to Australia in the tragedy caused by these fires," PM Marape said in a statement.

The governor of Port Moresby also invited Papua New Guinea to benefit from Australia by saying the governments of the two countries must build a pipeline that will allow Papua New Guinea to channel water to Australia during the dry season.

Another neighboring country, Vanuatu, has also pledged to give Australia 20 million vatu the equivalent of Australian $ 250,000 to support the Fire Service.

"As neighbors and friends of the Pacific, we have witnessed Australia being devastated by these terrible wildfires. We offer whatever assistance we can in times of need, as Australia has always done to us," said Vanatu's acting PM Jotham Napat.

PM Napat said his country was amazed by the fire fighting efforts. It shows the true spirit of Australia and as a neighboring country, Vanatu is very proud of Australia.

Australia's skies are no longer the blue they were before, since the fires that ravaged the country in early September 2019. Now the kangaroo country's sky is flushed and bright red due to forest fires.

Fires in Australia occurred from September 2019 to early 2020. Unfortunately, these fires have not subsided until now. More than 100 cases of wildfires ravaged Australia's southeast coast, killing at least 17 people. The fires were getting worse due to the extremely hot, dry and windy weather conditions.

NASA is also monitoring with its satellites to see the hotspots of fire in Australia. One image shows that near the Tasman Sea, plumes of smoke are clearly visible. Another image also shows that there is a spot where an area of 1.1 million hectares has been burned.