Bush fire destroys heritage island

The fire on the world's largest sand island, off Australia's east coast, has been raging for more than six weeks and is consuming large swathes of the island's unique forests.

Brisbane: Australian firefighters are struggling to control a massive bush fire that already destroyed 40 percent of the UNESCO world heritage-listed Fraser Island before a heatwave hit Monday.

The fire on the world’s largest sand island, off Australia’s east coast, has been raging for more than six weeks and is consuming large swathes of the island’s unique forests.

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Temperatures are forecast to peak at 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) Monday as a heatwave sweeps across the region, raising concerns that hotter conditions will further fuel the blaze.

Fraser Island — known for its large population of dingoes, or native wild dogs — was listed as a world heritage site for its rainforests, freshwater dune lakes and complex system of sand dunes that are still evolving.

It is also called K’gari, meaning paradise, in the language of the local Butchulla people and the spectacular setting attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists a year.

The climate change-fuelled fire season also killed or displaced nearly three billion animals and cost Australia’s economy an estimated US$7 billion.