Wildfires rage across Australia

Officials in Australia’s most populous state declared a state of emergency on Monday. Some 1,500 firefighters are battling 60 fires throughout New South Wales. The fires have killed at least three people and injured more than 100 others, including firefighters, since Friday.

How are authorities responding? The state government will close more than 500 schools and technical colleges on Tuesday, when fires are expected to worsen. Officials declared a catastrophic fire danger for the greater Sydney area and the Hunter Valley region to the north. Since Friday, blazes have destroyed more than 150 homes in the state’s northeast and burned more than 3,700 miles of forest and farmland. Australia is the largest exporter of coal and liquid natural gas and is the driest continent after the Antarctic. Its annual fire season began earlier this year after a dry winter.