Australian PM calls up reservists as fire threats escalate

A man uses a water hose to battle a fire near Moruya, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison called up about 3,000 reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated Saturday in at least three states with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures were forecast to bring flames to populated areas including the suburbs of Sydney. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft) A man uses a water hose to battle a fire near Moruya, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison called up about 3,000 reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated Saturday in at least three states with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures were forecast to bring flames to populated areas including the suburbs of Sydney. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

By SHONAL GANGULY and STEVE McMORRAN / The Associated Press January 4, 2020 5 min read

SYDNEY (AP) – Australia’s prime minister called up about 3,000 reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated Saturday in at least three states with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures were forecast to bring flames to populated areas including the suburbs of Sydney.

Scott Morrison said 23 deaths have been confirmed so far this summer, including the two in a blaze on a highway on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. “We are facing another extremely difficult next 24 hours,” he told a televised news conference.

“In recent times, particularly over the course of the balance of this week, we have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level,” Morrison said.

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Australia wildfires

Justin Kam, left, hands to his partner Helena Wong a small horse statue found in the the rubble of their destroyed home at Balmoral, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Kam and Wong built their home with quarter-inch thick reinforced glass, steel framing and rock surrounds to protect them from Australia's notorious wildfires. But as they stayed home with their son and battled flames that soared as high as a 15-story building, they realised they were in mortal danger. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A man runs back to his truck after trying to quench a fire near Moruya, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison called up about 3,000 reservists as the threat of wildfires escalated Saturday in at least three states with two more deaths, and strong winds and high temperatures were forecast to bring flames to populated areas including the suburbs of Sydney. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

In this photo taken early Jan. 2020, and provided Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service personnel use fire hoses to dampen the forest floor near Wollemi pine trees in the Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Specialist firefighters have saved the world's last remaining wild stand of a prehistoric tree from wildfires that razed forests west of Sydney. (NSW National Parks and Wildfire Service via AP)

The home of Justin Kam and Helena Wong barely stands after a fire destroyed the house at Balmoral, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Kam and Wong built their home with quarter-inch thick reinforced glass, steel framing and rock surrounds to protect them from Australia's notorious wildfires. But as they stayed home with their son and battled flames that soared as high as a 15-story building, they realised they were in mortal danger. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A yacht sails past a burning woodchip mill as the wildfires hits the town of Eden, New South Wales, Australia, Friday, Jan. 10, 2020. The wildfires have destroyed more than 2,000 homes and continue to burn, threatening to flare up again as temperatures rise. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Doug Schutz, the Tomerong Rural Fire Service Captain, oversees a controlled burn near Tomerong, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, set in an effort to contain a larger fire nearby. Schutz began volunteering with the Rural Fire Service in New South Wales some 53 years ago, at the age of 13. That was back in the days when the fire truck was a Land Rover that towed a trailer with a water pump on top. Schutz is part of an army of 72,000 people from across the state who make up the world's largest volunteer fire service. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

This Jan 2, 2020, photo captured by NASA's Terra satellite and made available by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), shows thick smoke blanketing southeastern Australia along the border of Victoria and New South Wales. More than 200 fires are burning in Australia's two most-populous states. Blazes have also been burning in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. (NASA via AP)

In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, aerial photo, wildfires rage under plumes of smoke in Bairnsdale, Australia. Thousands of tourists fled Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast Thursday ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. (Glen Morey via AP)

In this image released Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in Gippsland, Australia, smoke rises from wildfires burning in East Gippsland, Victoria. Thousands of tourists are fleeing Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. Cooler weather has aided firefighting and allowed people to replenish supplies. (DELWP Gippsland via AP)

This still image taken from video provided by AuBC, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is confronted by angry residents as he visited a wildfire-ravaged Cobargo, in New South Wales on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. The outpouring of anger came as authorities said 381 homes had been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast this week. More than 200 fires are burning in Australia's two most-populous states. (AuBC via AP)

This Monday, Dec. 30, 2019 photo provided by State Government of Victoria shows wildfires in East Gippsland, Victoria state, Australia. Wildfires burning across Australia's two most-populous states trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions Tuesday, Dec. 31, and were feared to have destroyed many properties and caused fatalities. (State Government of Victoria via AP)

In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019 photo provided by State Government of Victoria, a helicopter tackles a wildfire in East Gippsland, Victoria state, Australia. Wildfires burning across Australia's two most-populous states trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions Tuesday, Dec. 31, and were feared to have destroyed many properties and caused fatalities. (State Government of Victoria via AP)

A cyclist wears a mask as smoke shrouds the Australian capital of Canberra, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. Australia deployed military ships and aircraft to help communities ravaged by apocalyptic wildfires that destroyed homes and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

In this image dated Dec. 31, 2019, and provided by NSW Rural Fire Service via their twitter account, firefighter and police officer hold a possum and her baby after they rescued them under a car at a bushfire in Charmhaven, New South Wales.(Twitter@NSWRFS via AP)

He also confirmed that his scheduled visits to India and Japan later this month have been postponed. He was due to visit India from Jan. 13-16 and Japan immediately afterwards. Morrison came under fire for taking a family vacation in Hawaii as the wildfire crisis unfolded in December.

“Just around half an hour ago the governor general signed off on the call-out of the Australian Defence Force Reserve to search and bring every possible capability to bear by deploying army brigades to fire-affected communities,” he said.