Anna Kooiman on Australia's devastating wildfires
Former 'Fox & Friends: Weekend' co-host Anna Kooiman details the devastation of the over 200 wildfires raging across Australia.
Australia has a "big problem on [its] hands" with the approximately 200 wildfires still raging in territories across the country, former "Fox & Friends: Weekend" co-host Anna Kooiman said Saturday
"23 people are dead, dozens more are missing, and half a billion -- billion with a 'B' -- animals have perished," Kooiman told current "Fox & Friends: Weekend" co-hosts Pete Hegseth, Ed Henry, and Emily Compagno. "Also, more than a thousand homes have been completely destroyed -- burned to the ground Not to mention how many property owners have had their properties burned [down]."
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"And, this is all going on as multiple infernos across multiple states are coming together, merging, and forming even larger fires. This is -- I just can't even explain how massive this is," she said.
"Bush fires, as they're called here in Australia, have burned more than 10 million acres. That's an area twice the size of Massachusetts," she said.
Officials are calling this the largest peacetime evacuation in Australia’s history, Sky News reported.
In this photo released and taken Jan. 2, 2020, by the Australian Department of Defense, evacuees are transported in a lighter, amphibious, resupply, cargo (LARC) transport amphibious vehicle, from Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia. Navy ships plucked hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee before hot weather and strong winds in the forecast worsen Australia's already-devastating wildfires. (Australia Department of Defense via AP)
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has now called for 3,000 reservists to be deployed in what Defense Minister Linda Reynolds said was the "first time in our nation's history."
"In recent times, particularly over the course of the balance of this week, we have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level. The length of [the] season is of course, in many senses, unprecedented. But, the ferocity and the...dousing rains that would normally bring a season like this under greater control [are] nowhere in sight," Morrison told reporters in the capital city of Canberra Saturday.
He also confirmed that his scheduled visits to India and Japan later this month have been postponed. All of this comes as Morrison is under fire himself from residents and firefighters.
Fire danger increased as temperatures rose to record levels across Australia on Saturday, surpassing 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) in Canberra and a record-high 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) in Sydney's western suburbs.
A Forest Corporation worker manages a fire hose as he battles a fire near Moruya, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison called up about 3,000 reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated Saturday in at least three states with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures were forecast to bring flames to populated areas including the suburbs of Sydney. (AP)
The United States is sending dozens of wildfire personnel to help.
According to Kooiman, 70 fires are still "burning out-of-control" right now and a southerly wind threatens new danger.
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"The weather pattern, once it moves through in the next couple of days, there is supposed to be a bit of relief," she explained. "But, fire crews are saying...you need to remain vigilant because on the other side it's about to get windy again and there's no substantial rainfall forecasted in the near future."
Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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