CANBERRA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Northern Territory (NT) has been warned to prepare for extreme bushfire risk, local media reported Monday.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a severe fire danger warning for the northern NT in the early hours of Monday morning, warning of the worst conditions for the fire season so far.
Andrew Turner, chief fire control officer for Bushfires NT, said that strong winds across the territory and temperatures exceeding 32 degrees Celsius made the conditions particularly ominous.
"Normally there'd be periods during the day of maybe three to five hours that they'd be very strong but (today) the whole day from early morning right through to evening it's going to be severe," Turner told News Corp Australia on Monday.
"The (Bureau of Meteorology's) even saying if the winds eventuate the way they are predicting it may even stretch into extreme."
NT residents have been warned to have an evacuation plan ready should they come under threat from fires on Monday.
Turner urged Territorians to be wary of dropping lit cigarettes or using power tools outdoors that could spark and light a fire.
"The message is two-fold, it's obviously have a fire plan for your property and that fire plan generally involves knowing what you're going to do in case of a fire," he said.
"If you've got a well-prepared property and some experience and confidence you can stay and combat that fire -- if you don't have a plan you should plan to leave early.
"The other part of the message is if you do see a fire start, report it straight away." Enditem
