NSW: Bushfires a fact of life, says Hollingworth
SYDNEY, Dec 9 AAP - Governor-General Peter Hollingworth today praised the efforts offirefighters battling bushfires throughout NSW but said such blazes were a fact of lifein Australia.
Dr Hollingworth today toured the Rural Fire Service headquarters at Rosehill in Sydney,where he met RFS chief Phil Koperberg.
He offered his condolences to the families who lost their homes in wild fires whichhave gripped the state since last Wednesday but said the situation could have been muchworse but for the efforts of firefighters.
He said the severity of the fires was not surprising considering climate patterns ofthe past ten years and the severe drought affecting many parts of NSW.
"We're only just beginning to understand the nature of this continent and the hazards,the difficulties of this dry climate," Dr Hollingworth said.
"There aren't any simple solutions. We just do need to understand that particular thingscan be done, people can take preventive action, but it won't stop fires and it won't stopthe kinds of problems we have to deal with.
"Those are the facts of life and we have to live more sensitively and more carefullywithin the balance of this particular environment."
AAP hn/arb/drp/sp
KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES NSW GG
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