CRI听力: WA Fire Declared A Natural Disaster

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has declared a fire that destroyed more than 37 homes at Toodyay, 80 km northeast of Perth, a natural disaster. CRI's Australia correspondent Chen Feng has more.




Three firefighters and one woman from the town suffered minor injuries in the fire, which has burnt 3,000 hectares of bushland.

Premier Barnett says state government agencies will provide people who have lost their homes or are in immediate need with 3,000 Australian dollars.

A Fire and Emergency Services Authority spokesman says the Toodyay blaze is almost contained. Another blaze near Badgingarra, in the northern Wheatbelt, has been contained but is not yet under control.

In other news, deaths in three states on Wednesday have seen the national holiday death toll for road accidents rise to 57.(www.hXen.com)

Fatalities were recorded in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, taking the holiday death toll in the three states to 15, 18 and 9 respectively.

Eight people have died on Western Australian roads, four in Tasmania, two in South Australia and one in the Northern Territory. There have been no deaths in the Australian Capital Territory.

Chen Feng, CRI news, Sydney.