Arsonists who set off bushfires which have destroyed homes in tinder-dry Australia were warned today they would face the full force of the law as firefighters braced for another onslaught.
While weary firefighters in Canberra were able to take advantage of kinder weather to rest, the Bureau of Meteorology warned conditions at the weekend were likely to mirror the extremes of wind and high temperatures that produced Saturday's fire storm, which claimed four lives, injured hundreds of people and forced thousands to flee.
The latest estimate of the destruction put the toll in and around the national capital at 532 homes and the cost at Aus 150 million.
A 60-year-old volunteer firefighter became the latest casualty last night when he was caught by a fireball as he fought a bushfire at Yass, in southern New South Wales.
He suffered burns to 20 per cent of his body and was airlifted to hospital in Canberra where he was in a "serious but stable" condition today.
The main fire hotspot was in neighbouring Victoria where four houses were destroyed as two major bushfires raced through several small towns in the state's tinder-dry northeast.
Officials said the two fires, which were still threatening several townships, were believed to have been deliberately lit. A fire at Lysterfield Park in Melbourne's east was also being treated as suspicious.
AFP