MELBOURNE, Australia — With memories of Australia’s deadliest wildfires still fresh, residents chose to flee rather than protect their homes Monday when new blazes broke containment lines and threatened the fringes of the country’s second-largest city.
Since the Feb. 7 disaster that officials call “Black Saturday,” officials have urged residents to choose quickly and stick with their decision: leave early when a blaze approaches, or stay and fight.
“I’m no hero — take the house,” a woman told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. as she prepared to leave Warburton, east of Melbourne.
At least two new fires broke out in southern Victoria state, where temperatures soared into the mid-80s and strong, gusty winds blew the fires first one way then another. Another fire that had been burning for more than a week flared and sent embers raining on Melbourne.
