Kaya Selby
RNZ Pacific journalist
Wildfires worsened
overnight on Lou Island in Papua New Guinea, with local
authorities saying at least half of the islands forests are
gone.
The fires, which have been ongoing island-wide
since early last week, broke through ridgelines towards Rei
village overnight, spreading fast and wide through to the
morning.
Local government official David Putulan said
with drought conditions and warm winds, and locals lacking
the proper equipment, they are fighting a losing
battle.
“It’s practically impossible to put on the
fire by our efforts,” he said.
“We need higher level
intervention, like choppers and other types of technology –
it’s already an impossible situation.”
It comes as El
Niño upends ordinarily tropical climate throughout New
Guinea and its islands. Putulan said Lou, one of the
Admiralty Islands, had never experienced a fire of this
scale before.
“The fire index around this area is so
high that anything is flammable, including even green
leaves.
“It’s a heavily forested island, but because
it’s a volcanic island and there are steep ridges, and a lot
of the vegetation is creeping plants and cover crops, it
creates a lot of fuel for the fire.”
Local responders
on the ground have said they are using buckets, knives, axes
and spades to carry water from the sea, but the steep
terrain makes carrying it uphill difficult.
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Video
footage sent to RNZ Pacific on Tuesday morning showed
locals, among them children, cloth-masked and dangerously
close to flames.
Community leader Ngenge Sasa, who is
helping coordinate firefighting efforts, said they are
virtually out of options.
“I don’t know what we can do
anymore,” he said.
“We are just trying to cut the fire
breaks, but the fire is too strong, and local boys with only
bush knives and spades and everything, they can’t do
much.”
He added that groundwater sources have dried,
meaning people are having to hike uphill with containers of
ocean water.
After a long night, they have no choice
but to keep fighting.
“Hopefully, the fire will die
somewhere. We don’t know, but we are just
praying.”
Putulan said the local wards have appealed
to Port Moresby, and are now considering going to the
Australian and New Zealand High Commissions.
RNZ
Pacific has sought comment from Australia and New Zealand
regarding what kind of assistance could be on the
table.
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