Australian bushfires raze homes, cut power to tens of thousands

Thousands of firefighters battled bushfires in Australia's southeast on Saturday that have razed homes, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swathes of bushland.

The blazes have torn through more than 300,000 hectares of bushland amid a heatwave in Victoria state since the middle of the week, authorities said on Saturday, and 10 major fires were still burning statewide.

In neighbouring New South Wales state, several fires close to the Victorian border were burning at emergency level, the highest danger rating, the Rural Fire Service said, as temperatures hit the mid-40s Celsius.

More than 130 structures, including homes, have been destroyed and around 38,000 homes and businesses were without power due to the fires in Victoria, authorities said. The fires were the worst to hit the state since the Black Summer blazes of 2019-2020 that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.

"Where we can, fires (are) being brought under control," Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters, adding thousands of firefighters were in the field.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation faced a day of "extreme and dangerous" fire weather, especially in Victoria, where much of the state has been declared a disaster zone. "My thoughts are with Australians in these regional communities at this very difficult time," Albanese said in televised remarks from Canberra.

One of the largest fires, near the town of Longwood, about 112 km north of Melbourne, has burned 130,000 hectares of bushland, destroying 30 structures, vineyards and agricultural land, authorities said.

Dozens of communities near the fires have been evacuated and many of the state's parks and campgrounds were closed.

A heatwave warning on Saturday was in place for large parts of Victoria, while a fire weather warning was active for large areas of the country including New South Wales, the nation's weather forecaster said.

In New South Wales capital Sydney, the temperature climbed to 42.2 C, more than 17 degrees above the average maximum for January, according to data from the nation's weather forecaster.

It predicted conditions to ease over the weekend as a southerly change brought milder temperatures to the state.