Sydney: Australian firefighters said Friday they were struggling to contain a wildfire in a national park that has engulfed an area the size of Singapore.
The eastern state of Victoria has faced severe fire conditions over the past week, with dozens of rural communities forced to evacuate.
The largest fire to date has burned 74,000 hectares (183,000 acres) of the Grampians National Park, 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of Melbourne, state control center spokesman Luke Hegarty said.
“We’re talking about a fire that’s almost the size of Singapore,” he told Australian national broadcaster ABC.
He said the fire situation was easing but it would still take time to bring the Grampians fire under control, which has a circumference of more than 360 kilometres.
“That means we have to walk or drive or fly the entire fire perimeter to make sure we’ve got the fire under control, and that’s no easy task.”
Officials said no deaths were reported and no homes were reported lost.
