Australian police have said up to 40 people might have died in ferocious wildfires that roared through Victoria and New South Wales, propelled by strong winds and a recent heatwave. As the fire blazed across 10 major fronts, incinerating dozens of homes, the police confirmed 14 deaths amid what Victoria premier John Brumby described as the "worst fire conditions in history".
In 1983, the "ash Wednesday" fires killed 75 people.
The inferno was so extensive that weather forecasters said it was changing the weather - creating thunderstorms through a process known as pyrocumulus, in which enormous quantities of rising ash cause convection.
At one fire station north of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, between 100-150 people were sheltering from the inferno on Saturday night while firefighters tackled the flames outside.
Huge swathes of surrounding bush were alight, sending enormous clouds of smoke billowing into the air. Helicopters dropped water bombs on the flames, which rapidly engulfed the outlying houses of small rural communities.
The worst hit areas are Kinglake and Healesville, north of Melbourne, but there are also fires raging around Coleraine and between Kilmore and Yarra Glen.
In one massive blaze, 10,000 hectares of bush were alight, destroying more than 30 houses.
"We all know from past history that fire at night is even more scary than fire by day," said the Kinglake fire service chief officer Russell Rees. Fire authorities said all available trucks were working to battle the flames, while 3,000 firefighters were in action.
A hospital in northern Victoria might now have to be evacuated, as the flames cut its power supply.
However, as the winds changed direction, the authorities warned that worse may be to come. -- Courtesy : telegraph
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