Australian authorities evacuated parts of the capital city of Canberra after a bushfire ignited near the city’s airport.
Residents living in suburbs located near the airport evacuated their homes on Wednesday morning while emergency crews responded to the fire, according to Reuters. Roads were closed, and evacuation orders remained in effect for about an hour before the warning level for the fire was downgraded.
Australia has struggled to control massive fires sweeping across the country for months, which have killed 29 people since September. Experts estimate fires have killed 1 billion animals and destroyed about 2,500 homes and tens of millions of acres of forest and grassland.
Police have arrested dozens of suspected arsonists and are holding them on charges of setting illegal fires, which could be elevated to manslaughter.
The Australian state of New South Wales declared a seven-day state of emergency on Jan. 2, the third emergency declaration for the state in as many months. New South Wales is one of the hardest-hit areas of a drought and the fires that have ravaged the country.
The smoke from the fires has caused air quality problems in other parts of the world, such as New Zealand. According to NASA, the smoke clouds formed over some of the country’s largest wildfires may travel around the earth before dispersing.
