Rain dampens threat of more fires

MELBOURNE - Overnight rain and cooler temperatures helped firefighters in southern Australia keep wildfires within firebreaks, after whipping winds raised fears of a repeat of last month's uncontrolled blazes that killed more than 200 people.

An average of 20mm of rain fell across areas where four main blazes burned in Victoria late Tuesday and early yesterday, helping to dampen them. While all four continued to burn yesterday, officials said threats to residents in the region had largely passed.

"We see a very bright light at the end of the tunnel now, we see that this weather is over," Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin said. "There's an opportunity for the communities of Victoria to start their process of grieving, start their process of rebuilding, without the ever-present threat of fire."

Officials had warned that wind gusts of up to 120km/h on Tuesday posed a fire threat akin to February 7, known as Black Saturday, when at least 210 people were killed by fast-moving blazes.

More than 600 schools and child-care centres were closed on Tuesday, as were 30 national parks where fires could still spring up. Some five million people were sent text messages on their mobile phones warning them of the dangerous conditions.

Up to 5000 firefighters and state emergency personnel, backed by hundreds of trucks and water-dumping helicopters, remained on alert.

Steve Warrington of the Country Fire Authority said any major danger to residents from the blazes would have happened on Tuesday.

The CFA said the main fires were still within containment lines but that they were watching forecasts of strong winds. Communities were told to stay vigilant.

An unknown number of people are still missing from the February 7 fires, and officials said yesterday it will be some time before police conclude their search for victims in the remains of homes and buildings.

"The process for us is a very complicated one of trying to understand how many people were in the areas," said Christine Nixon, head of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority.

"As we also go through ... the properties we may well come across the remains of people."

- AP