A Christmas Day bushfire has destroyed more
than 100 homes in Australia's Victoria state,
officials say.
Officials said 98 homes had been razed in Wye
River and 18 at Separation Creek. No injuries
are reported.
Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the
blaze along the famous Great Ocean Road in
Victoria's south-west, popular with
holidaymakers.
A change to cooler weather and rain has
greatly reduced the threat, but some
emergency warnings remain in place.
Some 1,600 residents and tourists from the
popular tourist spot of Lorne were evacuated
on Friday amid fears that a wind change
would push the fire towards the town, but
were allowed to return on Saturday.
Many of those forced to leave their homes had
to spend Christmas night in hastily-arranged
shelters.
More than 500 firefighters, 60 tankers and 18
aircraft have been involved in fighting the
flames.
Victoria Emergency Management
Commissioner Craig Lapsley said they were
"working around the clock to bring this fire
under control".
He warned that although the immediate threat
had eased, the fire had the "potential to burn"
for weeks to come.
'Dropped everything'
Thousands of tourists typically descend on
the area in the days after Christmas to visit
coastal towns.
But many residents and holidaymakers were
forced to flee, as festivities were abandoned
when the scale of the threat became apparent.
"They (residents) were all prepared, putting
their barbecues on, they were cooking away,
and all of a sudden they could see the smoke
coming over the hill," local resident Patrick
Carey said.
"They thought it was still four hours away
according to what they'd heard. And then all
of a sudden it was an hour away, and all of a
sudden it was half-an-hour away. So, they
just dropped everything, stopped cooking and
hopped in their car."
Anyone still planning to travel to the area is
being asked to check emergency warnings and
to avoid the Great Ocean Road if possible.
The Falls Music and Arts Festival, which is
held annually near Lorne, may not go ahead
because of the fires, its organisers said.
The fire began with a lightning strike on 19
December and has been fanned by strong
winds and intense heat in recent days, burning
across 2,200 hectares (5,437 acres) so far.
Victoria is one of the most fire-prone regions
in the world.
Many bushfires are started by lightning
strikes, while others are sparked accidentally
by campers or discarded cigarettes.
Some are the work of arsonists.
In 2009, more than 170 people died in
Victoria during Australia's worst ever bushfire
disaster.
