PERTH: Sydney will set off its iconic New Year's fireworks display after being granted an exemption to a total fire ban Monday (Dec 30) as other Australian cities cancelled their celebrations due to the worsening wildfire risk in the oppressive summer heat.
Pressure had built for Sydney's spectacle to be scrapped before the New South Wales Rural Fire Service approved the event on Monday.
Australia’s most populous state has bore the brunt of wildfires that have killed nine people and razed more than 1,000 homes across the country in the past few months. Of the 97 fires burning across New South Wales on Monday, 43 were not yet contained. A total fire ban was in place in Sydney, Canberra and other places to prevent new fires.
"Hot air is coming out of the centre of Australia, it’s particularly dry and then unfortunately conditions are expected to worsen in New South Wales as we head into Tuesday,” Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said. New South Wales Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the spectacle should be called off."The risk is too high and we must respect our exhausted volunteers,” he wrote on social media before the exemption was granted.
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