A mega blaze that has been burning for more than a week is racing towards a remote Northern Territory town, tearing through fire breaks.
The Barkly Complex fire broke a containment line north of Tennant Creek on Wednesday, inching closer to its 3000 residents.
“There was a lot of aerial bombing, as well as some attempts with some machinery to get in front of it, but the fire is just running too fast,” incident controller Tony Fuller told reporters.
“If we had another 150 people we still wouldn’t be able to be everywhere on that fire line.
“All it takes is one ember.”
The blaze has burnt more than 10,000 square kilometres of bushland, equal to about five times the size of the ACT, and winds of up to 50 km/h have sent it speeding towards the town.