Heavy winds fan Australian bushfires, disrupt flights

MELBOURNE: Strong winds fanned bushfires in two Australian states on Monday (Sep 9), with flames out of control in some areas ravaging thousands of hectares of land, fire services officials said.

The heavy winds also hit flights into Sydney, the country's busiest airport, where one runway was shut for three hours on Monday morning, Air Services Australia said.

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READ: More than 100 Australian bushfires omen of severe summer fire season: Authorities

Bushfires have started earlier than normal in the states of Queensland and New South Wales, in the southern hemisphere spring, prompting fire service warnings for the summer, which runs from December through February.

"This early in the season is unprecedented," said Neil Gallant, deputy commissioner of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, following two years of drought that have left extensive parts of the country parched.

"But if this is what it's like now, we really are concerned that over the next few months we're going to get no respite from these sorts of bushfire conditions," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp TV.

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As of Monday, five properties had been confirmed destroyed, with five damaged in New South Wales (NSW), while more