The smoke reportedly triggered fire alarms in the tower at around 2pm local time (3am GMT), forcing staff to leave the building and putting arrivals and departures on hold for around half an hour. Some disruption continued following the incident.
At least 18 fires are still burning across the state of Victoria, with some spreading to the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Australia’s second biggest city. At least 34 homes, and around 350,000 hectares of land, have been destroyed.
Victoria Fire Services commissioner Craig Laplsey told 3AW, a local radio station, that three key blazes remained a concern, and said bushfires were expected to continue causing problems for weeks to come.
"We're hoping the cyclone in Western Australia will send some rain down, but there is no significant rain forecast otherwise," he said. "We're looking at this bushfire season to last all of February and into March."
Fires are also burning in Southern Australia – authorities issued an emergency alert on Tuesday due to a blaze at Bangor in the state's Southern Flinders Ranges. “The Bangor fire is travelling in a easterly direction towards Stone Hut. There is a risk to lives and homes," it said.
The scene in the local cemetery after a fast moving bushfire reached the outskirts of Kilmore, north of Melbourne
Bushfires are common in Australia at the height of summer (November to February). The Foreign Office advises Britons in affected parts of the country to check for the latest information from local state authorities.
“Local authorities anticipate the 2013/14 bushfire season could be more dangerous than usual as the preconditions for bushfires have worsened in the past year,” it says on its website. “Bushfires can start and change direction with little or no notice. If you’re travelling in a high risk bushfire area, follow local authorities’ advice.”
Around 590,000 Britons visit Australia each year.
Latest information
Victoria - http://ift.tt/14TPr1f
South Australia - http://www.cfs.org.au
New South Wales - http://ift.tt/OWbf35
Tasmania - http://ift.tt/1eMTeHA
Western Australia - http://ift.tt/1eMTeHB
Northern Territory - http://ift.tt/1eMTeXO
Australian Capital Territory - http://ift.tt/1iW3ZpC
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