One Australian Fire Front 155 Miles Long - Fires Spread To Four States - WP

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CANBERRA (Reuters) - Bushfires burned across four Australian states on Tuesday, destroying houses and blackening an area larger than Luxembourg, with one major fire front stretching 250 km (155 miles). A fire on the southern island state of Tasmania struck the east coast town of Scamander, destroying 18 houses, although hard-pressed firefighters had little time to assess the damage as gusting winds opened fresh fronts.

"You could hear houses exploding and trees going down. You could see the flames roaring up over the hill," resident Sue Brown told local media. Authorities said blazes were threatening the town of St Marys, where many of the 600 residents were bracing to save homes from fires burning through scrub three kms (1.8 miles) away. "It's not going to be long before St Marys is going to be impacted on by the ember shower and then the fire itself not long behind that," Tasmania Fire Service spokesman Danny Reid said.

In Victoria, bushfires sparked by lightning strikes continued to burn in rugged bushland in the northeast of the state, destroying more than 280,000 hectares (692,000 acres). The fires leveled a ski lodge at the Mt Buffalo resort, which is still recovering from fierce 2003 blazes.

Two of the largest fires had linked to form a 250-km front, although cooler weather was assisting a 2,000-strong force of firefighters, troops and 45 water-bombing aircraft before the forecast return of soaring temperatures later in the week.

EDIT

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/12/AR2006121200063.html