Wildfire creates state of emergency in Australian capital January 31, 2020 at 04:42AM

The Australian capital region declared a state of emergency on Friday because of an out-of-control forest fire burning erratically to its south. The threat is posed by a blaze on Canberra's southern fringe that has razed more than 21,500 hectares (53K acres) since it was sparked by heat from a military helicopter landing light on Monday, authorities said.