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SYDNEY - Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, visited two states affected by raging bushfires yesterday as firefighters battled blazes which have already devastated an area twice the size of Mauritius.
Strong winds, high temperatures and the worst drought on record have stoked the fires, some of the most intense for years. While most of the fires have been caused by lightning strikes, some have been deliberately lit by arsonists.
Howard met firefighters and embattled locals in eastern Victoria, where out-of-control wild fires have burned more than 400,000ha of bushland in the Snowy Mountains and the Gippsland region.
Five major bushfires are burning along a 250km front.
Australia's fire season normally starts in January but began weeks earlier this year.
"It's going to be a long, hot summer, to use an old cliche," Howard said. "These fires have started very early. It's a very grim time for people."
He later flew to Tasmania, where firefighters have been defending the settlements of St Marys and Irish Town from fires which have swept through more than 12,000ha ofbush.
Earlier in the week a bushfire menaced nearby Scamander, burning down 18 homes.
Howard was expected to announce increased funding from the federal Government to help state authorities.
There are fears that hot, windy conditions forecast for today could stretch to the limit a 2500-strong force of firefighters, soldiers and water-bombing helicopters.
