P.E.I. man wary of 'disastrous' fires during family visit to Australia

Ian Carter's visit to his daughter in Australia has taken on an edge of concern, as they pay close attention to alerts about bush fires in the country.

The Charlottetown man is staying with his daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren in a small community about 30 minutes south of Sydney. They are more than 100 kilometres away from where fires are currently burning, but are still keeping a watchful eye.

"It's right on the edge of the national park, surrounded by bush land," said Carter, of the town where his daughter lives.

"That's probably one of the reasons all of us are concerned a lot of the time."

Carter's son-in-law is a professional firefighter, which provides some comfort. They watch a rural fire service group online that provides updates on the fire every couple of minutes.

"People are being warned, all of those rural areas across New South Wales, Victoria and southern Australia, to remain vigilant," said Carter.

"The situation remains disastrous."

Carter said because they are in an urban area they are not likely to be directly affected.

"These bushfires are really in rural locations," he said.

"And if you remember, Australia, of course, is a largely rural area and I would say 95 per cent of the country is bush, and so this is a catastrophic event for this nation."

Crucial habitats under threat

Even at the distance they are from the fires, Carter said air quality has been a concern.

A change in wind direction over the weekend brought smoke from the fires over his daughter's home, which settled down in 47 C heat.

There are kangaroos on that island that exists no place else in the world.— Ian Carter

In Canberra, he said, the air quality is so bad offices were shut down and tens of thousands of surgical masks were flown in to protect people from the smoke.

Carter said he was particularly saddened to hear about the fires on Kangaroo Island on the weekend.

"It's a popular destination for tourists especially this time of the year," he said.

"[It's] important habitat, as I said, for many threatened species, wombat and kangaroos. There are kangaroos on that island that exists no place else in the world — half of them were lost this weekend."

With summer just beginning in Australia, Carter said fire conditions are not expected to improve in the coming months, but he does not plan to cut his visit short, and will remain until April.

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