Wildfires have erupted on the Australian island of Tasmania, destroying at least 80 properties, police have said, as much of the region suffered a heatwave. Officials had been investigating a report that one person died, but police said on Saturday that there were no confirmed deaths or injuries from the fire. East of Hobart, the state capital, as many as 2,000 people had taken refuge in the town of Nubeena overnight, while another 700 were sheltering at the nearby historic Port Arthur site. Others have been ferried to emergency accommodation in Hobart. The fires flared on Friday pushed temperatures above 40 Celsius in Tasmania, a southern island state known for its cooler climate. Conditions had eased across much of the region on Saturday, but fire officials warned that the danger from some of the fires remained high. “We reached catastrophic fire danger ratings at times during this afternoon,” Tasmania Fire Service Chief Officer Mike Brown told reporters on Friday. “I don’t think we’re quite out of the woods yet.” One of the worst affected areas was the small community of Dunalley, about 55km east of Hobart, where police estimate about 30 percent of buildings have been destroyed, including the police station and school. In nearby Connelly’s Marsh, about 40 percent of buildings have been ruined.
