“到处都是红色”:澳大利亚的大火困住了海滩上的居民

In the small coastal Australian town of Mallacoota, an out-of-control wildfire on New Year's Eve morning forced some 4.000 people to flee to the water during one of the country's most destructive fire seasons in recent memory.

在澳大利亚沿海小镇马拉库塔，新年前夜的一个早晨，一场失控的野火迫使约4000人逃到水里，这是近年来该国最具破坏性的火灾季节之一。

Alex White, a reporter for the Herald Sun, told NPR that Mallacoota is popular among tourists and fishermen. The extreme conditions threatened all the roads out of town.

《先驱太阳报》的记者亚历克斯·怀特告诉美国国家公共电台，马拉库塔(小镇)在游客和渔民中很受欢迎。极端的条件威胁着所有出城的道路。

"When there was a really dramatic wind change at about 4 a.m., it swept close to the town and actually burned some buildings in the town, and everyone had to evacuate down to the beach," she said. "There were reports of embers the size of mobile phones falling on people, smoke everywhere."

“凌晨4点左右，风向发生了剧烈变化。她说:“飓风‘桑迪’席卷了小镇附近，烧毁了小镇上的一些建筑，所有人都被疏散到海滩。”“有报道称有手机大小的火苗落在人们身上，到处都是烟雾。”

Fisherman Steve Casement, a Mallacoota resident, told Reuters that he lost his house to the fires. "We are stuck here now," he said. "Everyone is pretty shocked at the moment, most of my mates are in the same position. ... Right now, I am on a trailer watching the town burn down, listening to gas bottles explode at some poor bugger's home and seeing smoke all around me."

渔民史蒂夫·凯斯门特是马拉库塔的居民，他告诉路透社记者，他的房子被大火烧毁了。“我们现在被困在这里，”他说。“每个人此刻都很震惊，我的大多数同伴都处于同样的处境。现在，我在一辆拖车上看着城镇被烧毁，听着汽油瓶在某个可怜的家伙家里爆炸，看着我周围的烟雾。”

Photos from Mallacoota show people on boats and wearing masks as the sky glows bright red. "This is really scary now, it's just red, everywhere," a Facebook user at the scene is quoted as saying by Australia's ABC. "The wind is intermittently howling, which brings more embers."

马拉库塔的照片显示，人们在船上，戴着面具，天空一片通红。“现在真的很可怕，到处都是红色，”澳大利亚广播公司(ABC)援引现场一位脸书用户的话说。“风断断续续地咆哮着，这就会带来更多的火苗。”

Eventually, a change in wind direction moved the most serious fires away from the town. "I understand there was a public cheer down at the jetty when that was announced," local fire chief Steve Warrington told the BBC. The extent of the damage is not totally clear, though Warrington is quoted as saying there may be "significant property losses."

最终，风向的改变使得最严重的火灾远离了小镇。当地消防队长史蒂夫·沃林顿告诉BBC:“我知道当消息公布时，码头上一片欢呼。”尽管沃林顿表示可能会有“重大的财产损失”，但损失的程度还不完全清楚。

Australian military helicopters and an airplane were deployed to assist in the firefighting efforts in the state of Victoria, where Mallacoota is located, Australian Minister for Defense Linda Reynolds stated on Twitter. In New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, authorities said early Wednesday morning, that three men had been killed in the bushfires along the state's South Coast.

澳大利亚国防部长琳达·雷诺兹在推特上表示，澳大利亚出动了军用直升机和一架飞机，以协助马拉库塔所在的维多利亚州的灭火工作。澳大利亚人口最多的州新南威尔士州有关部门周三早间说，该州南部海岸的丛林大火已造成三名男子死亡。

At about 7.30 a.m. local time, officers from South Coast Police District were informed the body of a man had been found in a burned-out car on the road near Lake Conjola.

当地时间早上7点30分左右，南海岸警察局接到通知，在康约拉湖附近的公路上，在一辆烧毁的汽车中发现一名男子的尸体。

The man has not been formally identified.

这名男子的身份尚未得到正式确认。

Two other men — a 63-year-old and his 29-year-old son – died after remaining behind to defend their farm.

另外两名男子——一名63岁的男子和他29岁的儿子——在留下来保卫他们的农场后死亡。

A fourth man, 72. remains unaccounted for.

第四名男子，72岁，仍然下落不明。

Shortly after midnight on New Year's Day, authorities in New South Wales said that there were 112 fires burning and 2.500 firefighters working in the state.

元旦午夜过后不久，新南威尔士州当局表示，该州有112处火灾，2500名消防员在工作。